Anonymous wrote:This is already known but education is a bad one. Not even incorporating the pay and work conditions, the need for a degree in education to be a teacher is declining. A teaching license is not required in most charters and many school districts with mass shortages are contracting with companies to bring teachers from overseas or they have low cost programs for career switchers or those without education related degrees. A Special or Elementary Education degree will have them boxed in, and from experience it is quite difficult to get another job if they don’t like it.
I have a different take on this. Working conditions seem to be the bigger issue than pay, so I anticipate conditions will improve over the next few years as districts start to tackle the teacher shortage.
Regarding teachers from overseas: most won’t stay because of American students’ behaviors. (I’ve worked with many.) This isn’t a permanent solution.
As for career changers, I’m all for those programs. I did one myself. Unfortunately, they also don’t have a high retention rate because these programs can’t adequately prepare you for your first year. I’m the only one remaining from my cohort.
So I anticipate the opposite. A degree in education right now is 100% a guaranteed job, and you can have your pick of schools.