Cal State San Bernardino education student Jennifer Kinser spent much of last year debating whether or not she should continue on her path toward becoming a teacher.

She is not alone.

Students in teacher-preparation programs and those considering entering the field are having second thoughts as deep cuts to the state's education budget force school districts statewide to lay off tens of thousands of teachers.

Ultimately, professors in the education field and state officials fear a teacher shortage down the road.

"Even though times are tough, people are still passionate about wanting to teach kids," said Sue Spitzer, director of the multiple-subject credential program at Cal State San Bernardino. "Our biggest

Esther Daniels, 28, of San Bernardino, right, and classmates Melissa Velez, 22, of Fontana, left, and Sarah Flexen, 24, also of Fontana use mirrors in an attempt to bring a beam of sunlight into the classroom to hit a bull's-eye drawn on the board during a science methods class on April 13 at Cal State San Bernardino. (Micah Escamilla/Correspondent)
concern is, will they walk away from the profession and not come back because they hear about layoffs."

According to The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a nonprofit devoted to strengthening teacher development, California has seen a drop in prospective teachers in the pipeline just as thousands of veteran teachers become eligible for retirement and the number of new credentials is in decline.

This year, budget cuts forced school districts to issue preliminary layoff notices or pink slips to 26,004 teachers and other certificated staff.

More than 16,000 teachers lost their jobs due to budget cuts last year and approximately 10,000 classified - non-teaching - school employees were laid off.

"The downstream effects of pink slipping are worth considering, because history tells us when pink slips are issued, there is a concurrent decline in the number of individuals preparing to become teachers and fewer teacher credentials issued to those who complete their