Thanks to this blog, I came across this article from last year describing just how bad the glut is:
First, there is an irresponsible press that publicizes these falsehoods but the blame also has to be spread out amongst the unscrupulous politicians, disingenuous teacher unions, and dishonest bureaucrats. They all have so much to gain from misinformation that they are not about to correct it. Also, stories about “man bites dog” (teacher shortage) captures the public’s attention instead of mundane factual stories like “dog bites man” (teacher surplus). The former is going to get the headlines while the latter will barely make the news.
Also in the state of Texas, starting salaries for a 22 year old teacher with zero experience is actually very good so it has prompted a steady flow of college students to choose education as their major. In addition, many states now have implemented quite a number of alternative certification programs which allows degreed professionals in other fields to be trained to become educators.
One benefit to this glut is that districts now can be selective of whom they hire from their pool of applicants.
However, the real tragedy that the media and the politicians conveniently ignore is that in many states, an educator with 20 plus years of experience is not going to make that much more than a first year teacher. There just isn’t that kind of incentive for school districts to keep highly experienced educators since they are flooded with so many applicants. In fact, there are so many veteran teachers who have become virtually unemployable because the districts prefer the twenty-something year old newcomer who has no experience.
The problem is further exacerbated by the fact districts hire nepotisms regardless of their age first and foremost. Almost ALL school districts do this, despite the fact nepotism is nothing but a form of corruption and should NOT be allowed in public sector work of ANY kind. Many if not most private companies but for the smallest mom-and-pop businesses have rules against nepotism, to say nothing of the fact almost all public employment employs civil service to prevent the old "spoils system." Not public education, however.
It isn't the unions, however, pushing the "shortage" myth: it's the school districts and colleges that are doing it.
Here is an even older article from SEVEN years ago decrying the myth of a "shortage":
These self-serving crisis forecasts were wrong and remain wrong. The faulty analysis underlying the "two million new teachers" forecast came from a federal study that used projections of student enrollment, student-teacher ratios, and teacher turnover to estimate the total number of teacher hires over a decade ("Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to 2008-09," by William J. Hussar, National Center for Education Statistics, August 1999). These projections were picked up by media and widely disseminated by education interest groups. But they were based on an erroneous assumption. The forecaster ignored the fact that many teachers who leave the school workforce in a given year return one or two years later. All he did was cumulate the gross outflow of teachers for a decade while ignoring the reflux of teachers who had withdrawn temporarily from the schools. Yet returning teachers account for over one-third of new teacher hires in any year. In fact, every year our colleges and universities continue to graduate education majors far in excess of net new teacher hires.
The Cassandras also ignored the business cycle. It's true that in 2000-2001 many school districts found themselves with more teacher exits and fewer applicants than in earlier years. Many had difficulties filling vacancies in certain subjects. But their situation was hardly unique. Hospitals also struggled to recruit nurses, computer firms had trouble finding programmers, and even the local Taco Bell was hard-pressed to find workers for its fast-food counter. Unemployment rates in 1999-2000 hit forty-year lows that made it difficult for virtually all employers, including school districts, to fill vacancies. But that was then and this is now. With the recession and the deceleration of K-12 enrollment growth, many school districts are again awash in teaching applications.
And this article is from TEN YEARS AGO:
08/30/99- Updated 12:09 AM ET
Teacher shortage just doesn't add up
By Gregg Zoroya and Kristen Hartzell, USA TODAY
This is a strange time in America's education of its children. As schools reopen across the country, administrators from central Florida to Seattle are scrambling feverishly to find teachers.
Last year, a physical education teacher who couldn't spell "strenuous" on the blackboard (he wrote "strenous") taught English in rural Georgia. About 2,600 students in New Orleans wasted a year on algebra, earning no credit because teachers were not credentialed for the class. In Orlando, special-ed students are taught by people with no training in the field because there's no one else to do the job.
Yet experts say there are plenty of teachers coming out of universities across the country. Not since the altruistic '60s and early '70s have freshmen - one in 10 - shown such interest in education, they say. The number of graduates prepared to be teachers this year (190,000) nearly reaches the all-time peak of 1972. Teach for America, a nonprofit organization that funnels seniors into two-year teaching commitments at urban and rural schools lacking resources, has seen applications rise 36% in four years.
"What we sense among students is a desire, right out of college, to assume a very significant responsibility that really does make an impact on the world," says Wendy Kopp, the organization's president and founder.
The problem, experts say, is that the nation does a better job of placing cornflakes on grocery shelves across the country than of making sure each classroom has a qualified instructor. "We have a huge distribution problem," says Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University. "Do we have enough people being produced to fill the need? The answer is yes."
A surplus of teachers generally in the Northwest, Rocky Mountains and Northeast fails to stem shortages in the South and West for several reasons. A checkerboard of licensing requirements discourages interstate moves, as does something as simple as the threat of losing accrued pension benefits and salary credits.
link
PBS's The Merrow Report also refuted the notion of a shortage a number of years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment