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Every new school year, uncertainty for teachers
A language arts teacher in Minnesota describes the anxiety that comes with every new school year -- wondering if she will have a job.
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Lynnea West teaches English language arts in Eden Prairie, Minn. She's been laid off and rehired two years in a row.
Kai Ryssdal: More people work as teachers in this country than work in any other profession. But the ranks are thinning. More than 300,000 education jobs have disappeared since the recession officially ended. That's according to the White House.
And for a lot of teachers that spring time pink slip has become something of annual cliffhanger. Lynnea West teaches language arts at a Spanish immersion school in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Lynnea West: This spring was my second time being laid off. Our district had to lay off 25 tenured teachers and I was told, "You basically have no chance of coming back to our school district in the fall."
I was really devastated for a couple of weeks. I just kind of wandered around in a fog, like "How am I going to have a career without teaching?" I didn't really know what that would look like. And then, it kind of opened up the door for me, really, to start looking around.
I just started sending my new revamped resume around to people and signing up for conferences, and networking.
So the last week of school, my principal said, "There's been a position allotted to us, and we are going to hire you back." I was grateful, and then I thought, "Well all that drama just to be called back into the same position."
But I am going to go back for this at least one more year I have. And then it looks like next spring, there will be more budget cuts on horizon. Of course, it's not a guarantee that I'm going to be laid off again next spring, but it's looking pretty good.
I've got a little notebook I'm keeping all my new adventure options in and I've got a different page for all my brainstorming activities. I had a page of, "Here's going to be my new tutoring business, here's going to be my Ph.D program, then here is my other options, like "Oh, what if I worked for Apple and I trained teachers on how to use iPads?" I could do that.
Ryssdal: Marketplace's Amy Scott produced that profile. We'll be hearing from more teachers in the coming weeks in a series we're calling Plan B.
I just turned 40 and due to some pretty major changes in my industry, I decided to go back to school and pursue something I'd always wanted to do but, as a husband and father, never believed I could *afford* to do - teach. Well, with my industry going the way of the Dodo, we were in a position to need to scale back significantly.
The result of which was that, finally, I could actually afford to teach. I could/can raise my boys and provide for our family on a teacher's salary, as long as my wife works as well (my wife has been credentialed for years but has just gone back to work in the schools as an aide). In any event, I went back to school and completed my program and now hold a CA single subject teaching credential.
I must have applied for 30 teaching jobs in the last 6 weeks, all to no avail. Not even an interview. I know it's tough right now - it's tough everywhere, in every field - but I'm still glad I made the decision to teach. I may not get to realize the dream this school year, but eventually, things will change. Tides will turn. Opportunities will show up.
Meanwhile...plan B.
I'm a Spanish teacher with 9 years experience and a master's degree. All I've ever wanted to do was teach. This year was the third time in the past 11 that I've been cut due to budget crises. I was unable to find a job for this fall.
When you hunt for teaching jobs, one of the things you have to pay attention to is whether they say "Bachelor's degree preferred" or "Master's degree preferred". If the listing prefers a BA/BS, that means that they will not consider any higher degrees. Many teachers have resorted to two resumes. I signed up with a temp agency this year that does the substitutes for several area schools. The other 4 women at the table at the orientation all commented on having two resumes and still not being able to find a job due to too much experience or too many degrees.
I am going back to school. I refuse to sit around hunting maternity leave positions, temporary work and other nonsense (or more one year positions in districts who have zero intention of hiring anyone long term). The last time I tried to stay in the game I ended up in a publishing company doing junior project management work for a pittance. I hated being in a cubicle and really missed the classroom.
So, the only school that would take me due to my prior education was the local community college. I'm headed for an associate's in nursing with RN certification, and need to knock all my non-nursing science classes out of the way while I wait for a spot in the nursing school. There are no spots until fall 2014, long after unemployment will run out. I do not know what I'll do, but I don't know what ELSE to do. I need to do something productive and move forward. If push comes to shove, I'll take another year-long position teaching biology or Spanish again. Biology has always fascinated me, but I truly love languages. As a feminist, I believe in empowering and educating women. Because of our baby boom, I figured that becoming a certified nurse-midwife would be a great way to combine all my interests and loves. I can do the work in two languages, I can help women discover their true strengths and independence, I can help the health care industry get back to being in the business of actual health care, instead of the business of the bottom line... perfect, right? I hope so!
Now I just need to find a school who won't force me to become a 4 year traditional student for a BSN, or who won't charge me $60k/year as a non-traditional student, or hope that the community college I've enrolled in has an opening. Sadly, their requirements for their program are slightly different than the other three CCs within reasonable driving distance, so I can't even apply for other programs without more waivers and more arguing over my admissibility.
We need some major reform in the educational system. We need major reforms in the administration, major reforms in the union, major reforms in the politics, major reforms in the parent outreach and education... in other words, we need to change pretty much everything. I do not think people realize what the obscene levels of turnover and disruption mean for their children. We need to take responsibility for the schools in our communities, just like we need to take responsibility for our children and our own personal education and information (and health and property and persons...). We keep hoping someone else will come along and fix it. That's not going to happen. It's on us to do it as a massive community.
