I figured this would come up, so I'll respond to it...I don't mean
this to argue against you or anyone who says "well graduates should
have found out how tough it is...they are responsible for
themselves." I agree with that, everyone is responsible for their
own job search and choices...but I believe some people are not
given the "full picture" and thus making choices on information
they either don't have or don't have the full amount of.

I agree, the INFOMATION on the teacher surplus is out there!
HOWEVER when its not publizied or talked about like it should be,
how would an inexperienced college student know, first off, where
to access that infomation? And how are they going to know they
need to find out about the surplus problem and go searching for
information if no one is telling them that there IS a problem! How
do you know to reserach a problem when no one had told you a
serious problem exists? Colleges aren't sharing it, and after a
through search for news articles on it I can count the total number
of them on one hand.

I've cringed several times these past few months when I've heard
from recent graduates who didn't know HOW bad it was. But, looking
at it objectively...college students, even when they are doing
their fieldwork teaching, don't spend a TON of time in school
offices or lounges, and even if they do not many of the people in
there talk about the shortage - mostly because they are warm and
comfortable in their tenured jobs! And I doubt many college career
centers are sharing "full story" - mine certainly didn't! Neither
did any of my instructors, advisors, or student teaching
supervisors. Case in point: four years ago when I student taught,
my building principal sat a group (about 15) of us down and asked
us how many people we thought would be competing for the jobs that
we out there. Most people in the group said about 25...he
basically laughed in our face and said "Try 500!" That's how our
little cohort learned the truth...no one had told it to us. And
out of all the schools that small group went to (about 6) he was
the only principal who bothered to share it. In fact, not only had
we all visited our college career center, but we had JUST FINISHED
and a mandatory seminar on finding a teaching job and all we heard
was it would be "tough"!! Most of us knew it was "tough" getting a
job but were shocked to find out how tough...because NO ONE HAD
TOLD US THE TRUTH!

I won't sugarcoat it..yes, the info was out there and me and my
fellow students could have gone searching and found out. However,
I doubt it would have been easy to find out the truth if it did.
One of the VERY FEW major news articles on it was published in 2007
in the DFP. Another recent article claimed that Michigan needs to
ATTRACT more teachers to the field! There's no database or site
(that I'm aware of - correct me if I'm wrong) that holds statistics
on Michigans high unemployment rate among teachers or tells how
many people you are competing against to find a job. So that's why
I've brought it out here...to get the truth out into the light so
MORE people can access it.

Even some actual teachers don't seem to know how bad it is!!! A few
months ago I was told by a teacher (a 20 year veteran) I had just
become acquainted with that there *might* be a retirement in her
building. I told her I would love to apply for the position, but
knew how many applications there would be...and proceded to mention
just a few of the numbers I had encountered on my job search. She
was SHOCKED to hear that sometimes you have 1,000 of applications
for a few positions! She honestly had NO IDEA it was this
bad...and this is someone who has been working in Michigan schools
for over 20 years! I've encountered many such people who have such
a limited knowledge while subbing, not to mention the fact that
most people OUTSIDE the world of public schools have NOOOOO
knowledge of it whatsoever! I work a retail job and people get all
excited for me when they hear a school *might* be hiring...until I
burst their bubble by sharing the truth!

So once again, I don't post this to argue with you, because I agree
that everyone is responible for their own choices when it comes to
choosing a career. But I do think the information needs to be
better publicized and available to our state's college students who
are *just* learning how to function in the world and will searching
for their first job!

On 6/09/09, SpecEd Teacher wrote:
> I don't mean to blame the education students but...it's not hard
> to see that there are few jobs available in Michigan--it's not a
> secret. I went from college straight to law school and heard
> about how there were "no jobs" in the particular area of law that
> I wanted to practice, so I got experience in a bunch of things
> (of course, it's different in law than it is in teaching!!)
>
> When I switched careers to go into teaching, I was at first going
> to be a general ed teacher in Social Studies with a minor in
> Government & Speech. Within about a month of entering the
> program, I learned that there were no jobs in those fields. I
> switched to special ed and ended up loving it.
>
> I'm no smarter or more attuned than an average person, but I did
> pay attention and keep my eyes and ears open. While I do blame
> the teacher ed programs for this surplus crap that they throw
> around, I also have to hold the education student responsible for
> finding out about future job possibilities.
>
> That said, my district (urban public school) has a hiring freeze
> but even without it, I doubt we'd be doing much hiring. My
> special ed department has no openings and other than maybe the
> Autism Impaired program, I am not sure any departments do.
>
>
>
>
>> I think univesity advisors are investing in their job security
>> by not telling the truth. Can't say I'd blame them in this
>> economy!
>>
>> What to say about it?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/09/09, just curious... wrote:
>>> Just curious as to what numbers people have heard this year
>>> regarding how many applicants there are for positions. I
>>> applied at a small district a month ago (1 opening) and
>>> what told by the principal they had over 150 applications
>>> so had a big task ahead of them!! My inner voice
>>> screamed" "That's all...try 1,000!" I have also read the
>>> posts about 13,800 applicants in troy....uggh...
>>>
>>> So what numbers have you heard, or better yet been told by
>>> administrators?
>>>
>>> I don't mean to bring this up to discourage people from
>>> seeking jobs or bring down morale. Personally this is my
>>> fifth year looking for a full-time classroom teaching
>>> Michigan job...I did a minimum wage position as an aide and
>>> went out of state for a while as well. I'm plugging away
>>> at resumes, and have applied to at least 300 Michigan
>>> schools/districts so far this spring (not to mention poured
>>> $$ into resume paper, printer ink, envelopes, postage,
>>> driving to deliver them, and driving to a few interviews).
>>> If I don't get a job I plan to go back to school and go
>>> into a healthcare field, I can perhaps find a job to
>>> actually support myself, since subbing is so poorly paid,
>>> plus you only get about 8 months worth of pay and can't
>>> file unemployment for the other months!
>>>
>>> I bring this up because I'm shocked to hear so often from
>>> recent graduates (some I've talked to on facebook, here and
>>> on other boards) who had NO IDEA the job market was this
>>> bad because university faculty just don't discuss it...I
>>> know we weren't told much when I graduated in 2004 (my
>>> student teaching building principal was the one who hit us
>>> with the stone cold truth) and that was five years ago, its
>>> soooo much worse now! And there has been vitually know
>>> media/newspaper coverage of the problem. I'm sure many
>>> students would (not all, but I know I would) have chosen a
>>> different career path had they know the truth about
>>> teaching in Michigan. I think the teacher "surplus" in our
>>> state needs more attention so our college students can make
>>> more informed decisions and not waste their money (as well
>>> as that of Michigan taxpayers) when they won't be able to
>>> find a job here in MI for years after they graduate.

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