Teacher Shortage Myth
A Bogus Story That Keeps Going
By Daniel Muniz

I have often heard that if you say something enough times, people will eventually assume that it must be true. And it is completely irrelevant on how patently false such an assertion may be because perception becomes reality. One particular myth in education is that there is a teacher shortage. There are many school districts across the country who loves to harp on this myth and there are plenty of politicians who also want to jump on the bandwagon because it makes them looked engaged on important issues even though there isn’t a problem to solve.

Of course, the media loves extremes so they too broadcast anything that is sensational even if it is untrue.

The public’s misperception of a teacher shortage perfectly fits the agenda of duplicitous education bureaucrats who go out of their way to propagate it. The educational leadership really wants the public to erroneously believe that their school district is under siege, therefore it needs more money. And as any bureaucrat already knows, it is very difficult to raise taxes unless you can justify it with a legitimate need.
 

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As a result, the teacher shortage is the perfect solution, especially when you can get so many third parties to do the complaining for you.

However, I was surprised to discover that my local newspaper, The San Antonio Express-News, actually had a story with the following headline:

Teacher shortage? Not in this city

In an article written by Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, she debunks the teacher shortage myth in my hometown with facts and figures. It was refreshing to finally see some stark honesty and factual reporting about the true employment conditions of educators instead of the rampant alarmism that had been so prevalent. For example, the school district from where I graduated high school is the largest in San Antonio and the fourth largest in the state of Texas. According to her article, that same district had “6,875 applications this year for 850 openings.”

Those numbers are astounding and it obviously means that there isn’t a shortage of educators if a district is flooded with that many applications. In fact, the Internet has paved the way for potential applicants to easily apply for as many job openings as possible even if they live out of town.

But the above scenario is far more complex that what the public realizes or what the press publishes or broadcasts.

It means that there are plenty of teachers who are still looking for jobs and the harsh reality is that many of them have returned to the private sector because they are unemployed. In essence, there is a tremendous oversupply that has glutted the market so that even the hard to fill teaching positions still have applicants.

So if that is the case, then how did this mythology get out of hand?

First, there is an irresponsible press that publicizes these falsehoods but the blame also has to be spread out amongst the unscrupulous politicians, disingenuous teacher unions, and dishonest bureaucrats. They all have so much to gain from misinformation that they are not about to correct it. Also, stories about “man bites dog” (teacher shortage) captures the public’s attention instead of mundane factual stories like “dog bites man” (teacher surplus). The former is going to get the headlines while the latter will barely make the news.

Also in the state of Texas, starting salaries for a 22 year old teacher with zero experience is actually very good so it has prompted a steady flow of college students to choose education as their major. In addition, many states now have implemented quite a number of alternative certification programs which allows degreed professionals in other fields to be trained to become educators.

One benefit to this glut is that districts now can be selective of whom they hire from their pool of applicants.

However, the real tragedy that the media and the politicians conveniently ignore is that in many states, an educator with 20 plus years of experience is not going to make that much more than a first year teacher. There just isn’t that kind of incentive for school districts to keep highly experienced educators since they are flooded with so many applicants. In fact, there are so many veteran teachers who have become virtually unemployable because the districts prefer the twenty-something year old newcomer who has no experience.

Sadly, this preference has disillusioned the many people who decided to leave their corporate jobs to pursue a profession in teaching. The employment opportunities simply do not exist regardless of how many people have trumpeted the “teacher shortage” alarm.

Of course there are school districts in the country that do have open slots that are hard to fill especially in rural areas but that has become the exception instead of the norm.

Perhaps this news story from Jenny LaCoste-Caputo is an anomaly although it would be a tremendous improvement in journalistic integrity that the media publishes the facts instead of using sensationalism to hawk their headlines. The teacher shortage is a myth that has to be put to rest so the public can concentrate on the real issues facing education.

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COMMENTS FROM READERS

I think there was the looming threat of a shortage about 5-10 years ago when older teachers began retiring...but all the media on "teacher shortages" coupled with desperate schools increasing starting pay averted any disaster that the media may have predicted.The REAL ISSUE is that districts are not allowed to HIRE ENOUGH TEACHERS!!!! They have to make due with less teachers and cram 35-40+ students into classrooms. DISTRICTS NEED MORE MONEY SO WE CAN HIRE MORE TEACHERS AND HAVE REASONABLE CLASS SIZES. Anyone who doesn't think we need to fund education more in this country should kiss their precious money goodbye because it's just going to end up funding prisons. -TMD