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Printer-Friendly ModeDespite difficulties in placing graduates locally, College of Ed. does not plan to limit enrollment
November 13, 2006 —
Like several SVSU education majors, Scott Repicky had to leave the state last year in order to find a teaching job after graduation.
"In the spring, I was called by Novi Community Schools," he recalls, describing this area's competitiveness for teaching jobs. "They had three openings. They did a 10-minute phone interview with me on a Thursday. On the following Tuesday, they were going to interview 35 applicants for the three jobs. After they interviewed the 35 applicants, I never heard back from the district."
Repicky is currently teaching first grade at E.E. Miller Elementary in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Although he has embraced the career move as both a personal and professional challenge, he would have preferred to stay in Michigan to live near his family and friends.
"And Scott was highly qualified," says Nicole Arbury, assistant dean of SVSU's College of Education and director of Clinical Experiences. "They would have loved to have hired him in Bay City, but there just wasn't an opening. There are many great teachers having to leave the state of Michigan to find employment. We're happy for them that they're finding employment and doing what they love to do; we're happy for the kids in these other states who are being educated by terrific SVSU graduates; but we're sad they can't all stay where they'd all like to be staying. However, we expect that many of them will move back to the state when the market softens and retirements become more abundant."
Arbury points to the poor economy, the fact that the Baby Boomer generation has yet to completely retire, and also the decreased public school enrollment numbers as the major aspects influencing this current state trend of education majors not getting hired.
"Count day numbers were low for many area schools," Arbury says, "and that has directly impacted the availability of teaching jobs in the area."
Count day - the biannual tally of students in schools across Michigan - determines the annual funding each school will receive. Schools lose or gain funding depending on the number of students enrolled.
The Saginaw School District is a prime example of a funding decrease due to lower student count numbers. As reported by The Saginaw News, the district has stated an estimated $3 million budget deficit and has lost 840 students in the past year. At a loss of $7,085 per student, it amounts to a total loss of nearly $6 million in funding that has made layoffs inevitable and job opportunities scarce.
"My school is definitely constricted in the capacity to hire due to lower student count numbers," says Chris Arrington, principal of Freeland Middle School.
His school, comprised of grades 7-8, saw a drop in student count numbers from 312 last year to 289 this year, amounting to a loss of more than $150,000 worth of funding.
"There are some wonderful SVSU grads who I would have loved to hire if money flowed endlessly," Arrington says. "In fact, there's a young lady student teaching for us by the name of Katie Kolar who happens to be sitting outside my office right at this very moment who would make an excellent addition to the staff if it were possible."
There are approximately 4,000 students currently enrolled in the College of Education, accounting for nearly 40 percent of SVSU's total enrollment. Because SVSU is increasingly becoming an exporter of teachers to other states, the question of whether or not the College of Education should limit its enrollment has arisen.
"Here at Saginaw Valley, we're not going to limit enrollment," Arbury says. "We don't want to ever be in the business of telling somebody who has wanted to be a teacher all their life that they can't be a teacher because the job market in Michigan, or in the tri-cities specifically, is not good right now."
Keri Bohlinger, a fourth-year education major, is one example of the many students who have always wanted to become teachers. Just as all students entering the College of Education are, Bohlinger was made aware that graduates were having difficulty finding teaching jobs in the area. Nevertheless, education is the field she remains interested in.
"Thinking about spending all this time in school and not being able to get a job here is scary for obvious reasons," she says. "However, being able to be a positive influence in a child's life is one of the greatest things I could do with my life."
Dr. Stephen Barbus, dean of the College of Education, explains that education graduates having to leave the state in order to find work as teachers is nothing new.
"Michigan has always certified more teachers than can find jobs in the state," he says. "It just gets more attention now because we used to be able to place more teachers locally."
He adds that the College of Education presently lacks comprehensive statistics on where their education graduates end up working after graduation. This is something SVSU is working to change so that graduates can be tracked and all enrolled education majors can be given an idea of their likelihood of finding relevant work in the area after graduation.
Barbus believes it is important to note that there are SVSU graduates who are getting hired in the area. He says that when teaching jobs are open, SVSU graduates fare very well in comparison to such universities as Central Michigan University and Michigan State University.
Arbury stresses that this lack of teaching jobs is a state trend, emphasizing that nationally there is a great need for teachers and that there are several states unable to produce enough teachers in their state to fill the openings each year.
"States like Texas and Florida in particular do not graduate enough education majors," she says. "If they were to hire every new graduate in the state, it still would not fill all the classrooms."
Arbury advises students entering the College of Education to not only be aware that they could end up working out of state, but also to understand that this state's teaching job market is highly competitive when there are available jobs. She says being able to participate in extra curricular activities, having relevant work and volunteer experience, taking advantage of learning opportunities, substitute teaching, being flexible, and networking is what really sets applicants apart.
"I would reiterate over and over again how well qualified our students are and how well they are faring when the jobs are open," Arbury says. "We do everything we can to help them be successful in not only being certified, but to find employment.”