Many teachers would agree; teaching jobs do not carry the same job stability today as they did years ago. After deciding to leave behind the uncertain pay of being a freelance writer, David Robertson chose to pursue a stable career as a teacher. After all, what school wouldn’t jump at the chance to hire an eager 52-year-old with life experience?
This was four years ago but the days of teaching as a safe haven are gone. In fact, Illinois’ budget troubles threw schools into a firing frenzy. And the teachers that are left to teach are nervous about large class sizes which can undoubtedly be more than one teacher should handle. However, even with teaching jobs in trouble, education is still the No. 1 major at Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University and other state schools, despite stats that about 80 percent of education majors from the class of 2010 are still hoping for an offer.
Interestingly enough, while new comers are trying to get in the doors, teachers who have jobs are leaving them at an alarming rate. Almost 40 percent of first-time teachers leave the field within 3 years after being disappointed by life in the classroom and such pressures as school reform, demanding parents and an emphasis on testing. More than 300,000 veterans nationwide left their teaching jobs between 2004 and 2008, driven by retirement incentives. And baby boomers also are geared up to leave, especially in Illinois, where 54 percent of the teacher force is 50 or older.
“The reality is that even high-need schools have an abundance of qualified applicants,” said Karen Peterson, an education professor at Governors State University. “Jobs are scarce, funding is abysmal, class sizes are going up and programs are being cut. This is not an easy time to be a teacher looking for a position.”
Kathryn Castle, president of the Elgin Teachers Association in District 46, where 332 teachers are still without jobs for the fall, said she mentored 16 first-year teachers last year. By the time the district had announced cuts, many were torn about the profession.
“They’ve chosen it as a career that they want to dedicate their lives to, but some of the pressures make it difficult to know that it’s the right choice,” Castle said.
Things are not looking any brighter in the near future either. The school districts that avoided layoffs for the upcoming school year have eaten through their reserves, which means more than likely layoffs are to come.
PowerLearning 21, or “PL21” for short, is a solution for teachers and others who are in need of income until they find a job in the classroom. It is a media hub for teachers, tutors and students across the world, providing educational content of multiple topics on a state of the art content-sharing platform that uploads instructional videos to be purchased by other users, “students”. PL21 defines these terms lightly, as anyone can be a teacher or student in a given subject provided they have background or prior knowledge of the topic.
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