Prospective teachers need to specialize
Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 from Press of Atlantic City
Joetta Surace found three great math teachers, hired the handfulof elementary school teachers she needed from among long-termsubstitutes in the district, and reviewed several applicants fortwo science teaching positions.
Her one major challenge was a home economics teacher.
"There just aren't that many and they're hard to find," saidSurace, human resources director in the Egg Harbor Township SchoolDistrict, one of the largest in southern New Jersey.
As jobs go, teaching is fairly recession-proof. Even in toughtimes, children must be educated.
But new teachers entering the profession in southern New Jerseyare being squeezed between tight budgets that prevent new hiringand older teachers putting off retirement until the economyimproves.
"I can pick and choose more," Surace said. "We did have fewerretirees than we thought."
That hasn't discouraged more prospective teachers from signingon, but they are being advised to specialize in areas that willmake them more marketable.
"At orientation, I always say that there is no shortage ofelementary school teachers," Rowan University Dean of EducationCarol Sharp said. "We tell them if they want to be marketable theyhave to develop a second area like literacy, bilingual education orspecial education. It's a strong message."
At registration for the Richard Stockton College teachereducation program last week, Assistant Dean Craig Myrtetus saidenrollment is steadily increasing in the master's degree program aspeople return for courses that can give them specializedcertifications. The college also runs a one-year teachercertification program for college graduates and an alternate routeprogram for those who will teach and take courses to becomecertified simultaneously. Enrollment in both programs is holdingsteady.
"We're getting a lot of calls from career changers," saidStockton's alternate route coordinator Lynne Gale, who manages sixsites with about 120 teachers a year. She said the program is verydemanding and candidates must have the required course credits, andnot just a degree.
Applicants to Stockton's traditional teacher education programare a mix of people looking to change careers and recent collegegraduates discovering there aren't many other job opportunities outthere.
Person Veit, 23, of Upper Township, came to Stockton as anundergraduate thinking he wanted to be a math teacher. He gotinterested in other things but now realizes he should stick withthe teaching plan.
Shawn May, of Bridgeton, 25, began substituting as a high schoolEnglish teacher, loved it, and now wants to make it his career.
Ingrid Manderson, of Egg Harbor Township, will keep her job as ashift manager for a rental car company, but will also beginpursuing her dream of being a special education teacher andguidance counselor.
And after nine years as a bartender/server, Jacklyn Murphy, ofSeaside Park, wants to put her psychology degree to better use bybecoming an elementary teacher. But she's heard about the jobmarket, so she also plans to get a science certification.
That's a good idea, area school officials said. They've gothundreds of applications for elementary positions that just don'texist this year, or require a second specialized certification.Those jobs are often filled by people they know, who did substituteor student teaching in the district.
"We had to cut 40 jobs (to make the budget)," MillvilleAssistant Superintendent for Personnel Stephen Burke said. "First,we'll try to bring those people back."
Galloway Township replaced just one of a half-dozen retirees,but still may have an opening for a teacher in the preschoolhandicapped class.
"We're just holding on to our own right now," SuperintendentDouglas Groff said. "We tell people to get as many certificationsas they can."
The openings that do exist tend to be in the areas with chronicshortages, such as math and science, world languages, bilingualeducation and special education. School officials said they arestarting to see more applicants in those subjects this year, and sofar have been able to fill most positions.
"I just did some math interviews and there are good candidatesout there," Middle Township Superintendent Michael Kopakowskisaid.
Rowan's Sharp said they have been successful in recruiting moreteachers from among math majors, and are also working to make iteasier for science majors to also get teaching certification.
Ideally, districts complete hiring by August. But August is alsowhat Greater Egg Harbor Regional Superintendent Adam Pfeffer calls"move around time" when teachers who applied for jobs in otherdistricts find out if they got them, then quit, leaving their olddistrict to begin searching in mid-August for a replacement.
"I just had a Spanish position open up," Pfeffer said. "And wehave had some math and science openings."
District officials don't like to admit they recruit teachersaway from other schools, but said they will network with collegesor professional associations to try to fill specialized jobs.
Pfeffer said if high school teachers also get certified to workwith disabled students, that would make them very desirable.
"I had to find a special ed Spanish teacher, and I'll tell you,that was hard," Pfeffer said.
E-mail Diane D'Amico:
TIPS FOR TEACHERS
Want to make yourself more employable? Here's what the peoplewho train and hire teachers recommend:
Get certified in shortage areas: science (especially chemistryand physics), math, special education, ESL/bilingual education,world languages.
Get more than one complementary certification: elementary andspecial education, physics and chemistry, preschool and bilingualeducation.
Substitute teach: You get experience in different schools andclasses; districts get a chance to see how you teach. If a jobopens up, you'll have a foot in the door.
Consider urban schools: They are larger and have more jobopenings.
Think beyond elementary school: The majority of teachers certifyin elementary education. If it's your passion, get extraspecialized certifications.
Considering the alternate route? Try substituting first to makesure you know what you're getting into.
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