California Sings the Unemployment Blues
This article describes the mass emigration of teachers in California and how the state is now facing the fallout from its layoff of 27,000 teachers last spring due to budget cuts. The situation is intensified by the potential retirements of the 'baby boomer' generation of teachers, which numbers to about 57,000 possible retirees within the next seven years, as well as the deterrent at the college level, with students transferring away from teacher orientated majors in fear of the recent cuts. In the meantime the dismissed teachers (who expected to be back in classrooms as was the drill in previous cases) are looking to other states for classrooms to fill.
How could California not have had the foresight to see that something like this was bound to happen? It's degrading to the trade to expect that these teachers would simply stay put and settle for unemployment, living off their families and savings like cockroaches until they were needed: and the upcoming shortage is simply the cost of trying to pull such drastic stunts in the name of saving money. My biggest concern is the influx of teachers as the jobless teachers look elsewhere, closing job opportunities and creating a similar mess for local teachers who may have to move to California when the state starts hiring again. What's worse is that this also leaves the state open to directly benefit from the federal push for more educators, bringing in new (and cheaper) teachers when much of the factors behind their own shortage was caused by lack of funding and poor planning, something the new teaching grants will quietly sweep under the rug.
Links:
An education problem looms
How could California not have had the foresight to see that something like this was bound to happen? It's degrading to the trade to expect that these teachers would simply stay put and settle for unemployment, living off their families and savings like cockroaches until they were needed: and the upcoming shortage is simply the cost of trying to pull such drastic stunts in the name of saving money. My biggest concern is the influx of teachers as the jobless teachers look elsewhere, closing job opportunities and creating a similar mess for local teachers who may have to move to California when the state starts hiring again. What's worse is that this also leaves the state open to directly benefit from the federal push for more educators, bringing in new (and cheaper) teachers when much of the factors behind their own shortage was caused by lack of funding and poor planning, something the new teaching grants will quietly sweep under the rug.
Links:
An education problem looms
Tags: education, teacher_shortage, unemployment
Comment
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Comment by Lynn Reid on October 4, 2009 at 8:19pm - Did you find a scholarly article for this week?
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