Hello,
I’m Vernon Reaser, president of Texas Teachers.
I’d like to address some facts about the job market for the teaching profession, and its strength over the next many years ahead.
What we know is that funding for public education will end up much better than what is currently talked about in the news. Even the budget writers themselves admit that the final budget will look nothing like their initial proposals. Currently the state is even looking for ways to almost entirely close the funding gap. But regardless of all this, remember that Texas must have teachers.
The reality of the current situation is that Texas still has all of its 4.5 million students to educate plus an additional 85,000 new kids each year. Our student population is exploding and will continue for decades to come as Texas leads the nation in population growth.
Texas is bound by law to provide teachers for all of its school age kids. Our state constitution requires that Texas must properly fund a public education system, no matter what. We are fortunate that during these times, we have the only profession protected in the constitution!
Confirming this principle, the Commissioner of Education recently said that on the first day of school, “the doors will open, the buses will run, the kids will show up, and the teachers will teach.”
But with all this said, there will certainly be some reductions in public education funding, from libraries to teacher assistants, to field trips and so forth. These cuts won’t make teaching any easier, but teachers will still be necessary to teach all the kids. In fact, for many reasons, new teachers are likely the best suited professionals for this new challenge.
The reason we’re just now seeing these late effects of the recession in public education is that our state budget lags years behind the economy. This is important to note, because the global and national economies have already turned the corner and are recovering. Therefore, our current situation must be short lived as our state revenue and job growth continues to improve at a rapid pace. We have the benefit of not only being the last profession to see the effects of the recession, but we also know that it’s practically over.
As things continue to improve, it will do so quickly, and you want to make sure you’re not left behind. The market will rebound to new levels of strength, creating demand for teachers to fill new classrooms created by growth, as well as to fill the void from increasing numbers of retiring teachers. In fact, we’re already getting requests for teachers in all subjects.
The Texas Teachers program is well suited to help its candidates succeed during any environment. Our program is geared to help make you eligible and competitive for employment just as soon as possible. We minimize all the risks and maximize all your opportunities. Texas Teachers has become the largest program in the nation and the only program in Texas to consistently grow every year in any employment environment.
Our motto at Texas Teachers is that every day is a great day to be a teacher.
Your dream of teaching is special and a tremendous credit to who you are. Hold on to your dream and know that your future is full of opportunities. At Texas Teachers, we’ll help you make it all a reality.
Vernon Reaser
President
Texas Teachers
