Education Teaching Job Outlook Gets Good Grades
Teachers play an important role in children’s development
and will always be a fixture of western society. Employment opportunities for
teachers of all levels (from pre-school to high school) is expected to grow
between 9 and 17 percent or at around the same pace as other occupations through
2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, the market varies depending on the grade level, geographical location
of the school, and the subject matter.
The expected enrollment of children in grades K-12 is
expected to experience slow growth through 2014 because of lower birthrates (and
therefore fewer children) of the post-baby boom generation. However, expected
enrollment for pre-schools should be strong because of the well-established
trend of 2-income households and an increase in public pre-school programs in
many states. Teachers will be needed in states that are growing fast, which
are mainly in the west – Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico and
Utah. Fewer teachers will be needed in the Northeast and the Midwest because of
slow growing economies. Inner city schools and rural schools will have the most
need for teachers because it is hard to attract and retain them because of less
than ideal conditions (underfunded schools and/or remote locations.) Teachers
in mathematics and science fields will find the most opportunities. And
bilingual teachers are needed for the expected increase in non-English speaking
students.
Teachers earn a very respectable living. The median yearly
income for kindergarten elementary, middle and secondary school teachers was
about $43,000 as reported in May 2004 by The Department of Labor’s Bureau of
Statistics, but varied by location. The median annual salary for preschool
teachers was less than half that of other teachers, or $20,980.
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