Thoughts Without Words: FEWER people going into teaching

***changed from less to fewer to be grammatically correct. Thanks to Anonymous.***

Another no duh.

I have said it before, anyone going into education right now has to be a little off. But let's look at the numbers.

In California, the number of teaching credentials issued annually fell 29% during the last five years, from 28,039 in 2004-05 to 20,032 in 2009-10, according to a new report by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The biggest decline, nearly a 50% drop during that period, was in the multiple subject credential usually required to teach elementary school youngsters, while some demand for high school math and science teachers remains.

The 50% in elementary credentials isn't that surprising to me. Districts are dumping the 20:1 ratio, so that leaves a lot of those lower grade level teachers out of a job. And in our district, enrollment for elementary is dropping. New families can't afford to live in CA, so they are moving out.

What about those currently in the programs?

At the Cal State University system, among the nation's biggest providers of new teachers, the number of students in credential classes is less than half of the total eight years ago. An estimated 12,000 students seeking teaching credentials are enrolled at Cal State campuses, officials said.

Private schools?

National University, a nonprofit, multi-campus school that offers mainly online credential classes, reports that enrollment in its teacher training courses has dropped about 30% since 2006.

All no brainers. We are being attacked constantly. If a child doesn't succeed we are the first ones to blame. We are supposed to teach to a test, without teaching to a test. Who would want to go into education now?