Teacher shortage gives way to teacher glut - USATODAY.com:
"LAWRENCE, Kan. — When Lilli Lackey started college, talk of a growing teacher shortage gave her confidence that a job would be waiting for her when she got out.
Now, six months after graduating, she considers herself lucky just to find work as a substitute."
Across the country, droves of people like Lackey are unable to find teaching jobs, in large part because the economy is forcing school systems to slash positions. The teacher shortage that many feared just a few years ago has turned into a teacher glut.
"I always thought that if I didn't find a job, I would be able to sub. And then once that started to be more difficult, it was really kind of devastating," Lackey, an art teacher, said during a career fair for educators at the University of Kansas.
Since last fall, school systems, state education agencies, technical schools and colleges have shed about 125,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the same time, many teachers who had planned to retire or switch jobs are staying on because of the recession, and many people who have been laid off in other fields are trying to carve out second careers as teachers or applying to work as substitutes to make ends meet.
"LAWRENCE, Kan. — When Lilli Lackey started college, talk of a growing teacher shortage gave her confidence that a job would be waiting for her when she got out.
Now, six months after graduating, she considers herself lucky just to find work as a substitute."
Across the country, droves of people like Lackey are unable to find teaching jobs, in large part because the economy is forcing school systems to slash positions. The teacher shortage that many feared just a few years ago has turned into a teacher glut.
"I always thought that if I didn't find a job, I would be able to sub. And then once that started to be more difficult, it was really kind of devastating," Lackey, an art teacher, said during a career fair for educators at the University of Kansas.
Since last fall, school systems, state education agencies, technical schools and colleges have shed about 125,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the same time, many teachers who had planned to retire or switch jobs are staying on because of the recession, and many people who have been laid off in other fields are trying to carve out second careers as teachers or applying to work as substitutes to make ends meet.