Education jobs have a bright future

BOISE - Job opportunities for teachers in Idaho are relatively good and will likely continue to be that way based on projections, educators and state officials said.

A growing state population that includes young families combined with retirement of baby boom generation teachers will offset proposed state budget cuts that include eliminating about 770 teacher jobs in the next two years, mainly through attrition, the government leaders said.

"Once we get through this recession, I do believe the opportunities for teachers will be good," Bob Uhlenkott, Idaho Department of Labor chief research officer, told the Idaho Business Review.

The agency said 10-year projections show teaching jobs in the state are likely to increase by 20 percent, compared with 15 percent for all occupations.

Earlier this month, public schools chief Tom Luna outlined an aggressive overhaul in education reform, calling for more technology in the classroom, larger class sizes and a pay-for-performance plan for educators.

Ken Coll, associate dean of teacher education and accreditation at Boise State University, said there has been a 10 percent increase in enrollment at the school's College of Education.

Areas that are short of teachers are math and science, special education, bilingual education, and early childhood studies, he said.

"In those areas, people would have a number of job offers, even in the current climate," Coll said.

Superintendent Luna's fiscal year 2012 public schools budget includes $4.8 million to recruit and retain high-quality math and science teachers to support the state's new high school graduation requirements that include an extra year of study in each of those subjects.

North Idaho College spokeswoman Stacy Hudson said education continues to be one of the top four majors for students on that campus.

"While there was a slight spike in students claiming education as their major this fall, the number of students pursuing education degrees at NIC has remained fairly steady over the past 10 years as it continues to provide viable job opportunities to students entering the workforce," Hudson said.

Lewis-Clark State College in North Idaho has expanded its teacher education programs, offering online and classroom-based teacher education courses.

"Enrollment in our nontraditional program is growing, mainly because people are looking at different professions," said Dave Massaro, coordinator of the nontraditional education program at Lewis-Clark.

"The baby boomers who are teaching are at the age where they're going to be retiring, and there's a huge number of teachers in that realm," he said. "Those positions are going to come open. It's just a matter of when."

Deb Hedeen, dean of Idaho State University's college of education, said the university has 1,435 undergraduate and graduate students in its teacher education programs, a slight increase from two years ago.