A Hard Lesson for Teachers

From The Wall Street Journal | Aug 11, 2009

By DANA MATTIOLI

Widespread layoffs caused by tight school budgets are forcing thousands
of teachers out of the classroom, in some cases, permanently. Many are
taking other jobs or considering changing careers, even as they
anxiously hope to be recalled.

When school begins this month, as many as 100,000 of last year's
teachers won't have jobs, resulting in an overall drop in education
jobs in the U.S., estimates Carmen Quesada, director of field
operations for the National Education Association, the nation's largest
teachers' union.

That's a jolt to people drawn to teaching in part for its
recession-proof reputation. The number of people working in local
education has increased every year since 1983, according to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. That streak is now in jeopardy: Local schools
employed fewer people overall, including nonteachers, in July, the
latest month available, than in July 2008. The majority of the layoffs
have involved nontenure teaching positions, with cuts determined by
seniority.

Judith Franco is among those affected. She taught typing and
business technology at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Fla., for
two years before being laid off in June-one of 394 teachers laid off by
the Broward County Public Schools.

Now, the 45-year-old single mother is plotting how to pay her
daughter's college tuition, while supporting her 13-year-old son and a
brother with lymphoma. She is considering resuming the alterations
business she ran for 20 years before teaching. She recently reconnected
with former clients and has lined up a few jobs working on weddings.

"I'm in wait-and-see mode," she says. "I'm looking everywhere."

Historically, many teachers laid off during tough times quit the
profession. New York City laid off 15,000 teachers during its fiscal
crisis in the 1970s. It later recalled 10,000, but only 3,000 returned,
according to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of
Teachers. "You'll lose teachers to other professions. They certainly
didn't come to education to become rich," says Ms. Weingarten.

Some teachers given pink slips last spring have been recalled.
Eighth-grade English teacher Samantha Terrasas, 28 years old, was
notified of her impending layoff in March, a few months before she was
named the "Outstanding New Teacher" in San Lorenzo, Calif. In late
July, she was offered her job back and accepted.

Even when teachers are recalled, job security is never certain, and
that can take a toll. Audrey Day, 30, taught fourth and fifth grades
for three years in San Diego. During that time, she was told five times
that she might have to change schools; and she was formally notified
she might be laid off only once. Ms. Day never lost her job, but says
the process was extremely stressful and made her wary of bonding with
her students. "Ultimately I worked far too hard through an undergrad
degree, credential [program] and master's not to know month to month if
I'll have a position," she says.

In 2007, Ms. Day quit to prepare for law school. She starts Seton Hall University law school later this month.

Lauren Sikorski, 25, recently laid off after two years teaching
special-education math at Carteret Middle School in Carteret, N.J.,
plans to pursue a degree in occupational therapy, beginning next
spring.

"The plan my whole life was to be a teacher," she says. "Now I'll still work with children, just in a different setting."

Many others are biding their time, scrambling to craft back-up plans
while hoping to be recalled. Tony Whitesel, 39, left a branch-manager
job at Hertz in 2001 to return to college to become a teacher. In 2006,
he started work as a fifth-grade teacher at Great Valley Elementary
School in Manteca, Calif. He was laid off in June. Mr. Whitesel says he
went into teaching thinking he would have job security. "Ironically,
I'm the only one in my family to graduate high school, let alone
college, yet I'm the only one not working," he says.

He spent the summer struggling to pay rent, a total of $40,000 in
student loans and other living expenses on unemployment benefits and
his wife's salary as an aide for children with learning disabilities;
she makes about a third of his old salary. His health insurance will
run out at the end of the month, and he says he won't be able to extend
it.

Last week, Mr. Whitesel was told he could fill in for several months
in the coming school year for a teacher on sick leave from a different
Manteca school. But the substitute post doesn't offer benefits, so Mr.
Whitesel is still looking for nonteaching jobs, hindered by the 15.5%
unemployment rate in San Joaquin County, among the nation's highest. If
he finds a job and sees potential for growth, he says he would leave
teaching. "I won't be terribly picky as long as the income is high
enough and I have benefits," he says.

Aside from losing current teachers, some school officials worry the
mounting layoffs could deter students from entering the field. Jack
O'Connell, California's superintendent of public instruction, says
generally fewer people apply for teacher credentials when school
funding declines. The California Teachers Association estimates 17,000
teachers in the state received pink slips last school year.

This fall's class in the teacher-credential program at the
University of Redlands School of Education in Redlands, Calif., has
about 50 students, about 20 fewer than normal. Dean Robert Denham says
prospective students are having a hard time justifying the $15,810
expense for another year of education when they may not find a job
after completing the program.

Enrollment in the elementary program at California Lutheran
University's School of Education in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is down by
one-third from two years ago, says Carol Bartell, the school's dean.

Applications for the master's-degree-in-teaching program at the
University of Virginia's Curry School of Education in Charlottesville,
Va., fell more than 15% this year, the largest one-year drop in school
history, says Sandi Cohen, director of teacher education. Graduates
also are finding it tougher to find a job. Ms. Cohen says slightly more
than 15% of this year's graduates don't have jobs, a rare occurrence in
other years.

So far Teach for America Inc., a nonprofit that places recent
college graduates in low-income public schools, has yet to see any
impact from the school cuts or interest from laid-off teachers, says
Kerci Marcello Stroud, national communications director. The group saw
a 42% increase in applications this year and expects to place its
largest corps ever this school year: more than 4,000 new teachers, up
from 3,700 last year.

But the recent news of budget cuts and layoffs on a local basis
across the country may eventually limit the pool of new teachers.

"Students who are very competitive in the work force are smart
enough to realize that there aren't going to be jobs if the school
districts around them are cutting back," says Tom Carroll, president of
the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. "They will
pursue a different career."