Thursday, September 22, 2011

The (non-existant) Teaching Job Market and the Push for Lies



Stated at http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/06/top-industries-hiring-in-2011/, Teachers are still needed, teacher shortage, crisis blah blah blah feed me more lies. Ok, to be more professional here, I'll provide an excerpt;

"While many districts have laid off teachers, opportunity remains in inner cities, says Ryan. Cities such as Memphis are hiring teachers ($45,914) with just a six-week bootcamp training. You need a bachelor's degree to qualify for such programs, she notes.

"You used to need to get a teaching certificate in most states," she says. "Now, you can find a teaching job without one."


Ok, sorry, my professionalism must go out the door as rage steps in. In what freaking world? I have applied to at least 50 jobs in my home state plus a handful in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Illinois to name a few. I have three education credentials, a Master's, and experience (and not just in say, 3rd grade, but all grades, all types of schools.) I have had ONE count it ONE interview and no job offers. I applied to a V. Principal/ A. Principal job and was told they had over 200 QUALIFIED applicants. That means a MA, Teaching credential, Admin Credential, 3-5 years teaching experience and at least one year Admin experience.

I am quite convinced the "powers that be" or at the very least, teaching colleges, are perpetuating this "teacher shortage crisis" so that more people enroll in their teacher colleges and thus the colleges profit. DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR LIES!

Ok, you may say, there are teaching shortages, I mean special ed is one, right? Wrong. Yes there are quite a few postings but the job market is tight there too. I have a friend with a credential for mild-moderate special ed and moderate to severe, plus a MA, and 8 years experience. She is well liked in her district. She was considering moving and applied to many many positions and had only one interview and no job offer.

I was reading the local newspaper, the letters to the editor part and encountered this,
"Take it from a former teacher laid off due to circumstances beyond my own control. The 99 weeks is pure agony...and on top of it was unable to find another teaching position due to the current status of our economy and school district problems.

I looked for work every day I was able, to no avail. "


Well, at least I am not alone here. I am actually thinking of contacting districts to ask them how many qualified applicants they get, especially for teaching because few have Admin. credentials but many have solely a teaching credential so, are the numbers in the thousands? I'm sure the districts won't tell me but I hope they do. I'd love to dispel this myth and uncover the truth of a very tough job market once and for all.

On a side note, my mother brought to light the fact that my speaking up about this, LIFO, etc can cost me jobs. Yes. But well behaved people rarely make the history books. We teachers have been silent far too long and someone must take the torch, sacrifice all, for the good of mankind. I have the torch in hand.

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