A recession is good news for school personnel recruiters

By Del Stover

1/8/02 – As unlikely as it might seem, the nation's economic slump is having at least one beneficial impact on public education: It's making it slightly easier for school officials to fill vacant teaching positions.

Thousands of unemployed workers are submitting resumes to schools across the nation, educators say. The trend is particularly strong in communities with a large concentration of airline and high-tech industries–those hardest hit by the economy's slowdown.

More job applicants

One such beneficiary is the Wake County, N.C., school system, which has seen a rise in job applications since local industries announced layoffs of college-educated workers.

Those extra applications have been a help: This fall, the county started the school year with only 38 vacant teaching positions–down significantly from 100 vacancies last year.

"We do believe we have benefited somewhat from the decrease in the economy and some of the downsizing that's occurred," says Toni Patterson, the school system's assistant superintendent for staffing.

Applications also are flooding school offices in Fairfax County, Va. District officials received more than 3,700 resumes in October–almost 1,000 more than in October 2000.

Job hunters are looking to the schools for a variety of reasons, educators say. Some have education degrees and have lost jobs in other fields. Other job applicants are non-educators who've been inspired to turn to the schools after hearing of teacher shortages and alternative certification programs.

Meanwhile, college students nearing graduation and older workers looking for a mid-career change are eyeing the economy–and the relative job security provided by public education, says David Haselkorn, president of Recruiting New Teachers Inc., a nonprofit group in Belmont, Mass.

Even the events of Sept. 11 are influencing some applicants. "I think there are a number of cross-cutting trends at work here," he says. "There are people who are using this opportunity . . . this forced job hiatus . . . to examine their commitments and what they want to do with their lives. To that extent, teaching offers some unparalleled attractions in being able to make a difference."

It would be a mistake, however, to exaggerate the practical impact of the current phenomenon, school officials say. In Wake County, the rise in teacher applicants has allowed the school system to fill some teaching positions. But school officials still are struggling to find qualified personnel for hard-to-fill slots in bilingual and special education.

A larger pool of job applicants also has had little impact in Fairfax County, which on average receives 13 applications for every teaching position, says Kevin North, the school system's director of employment.

Still, school officials are taking advantage of the situation: For example, North just hired a new math teacher who, until recently, earned a six-figure salary as vice president of a telecommunications firm.

Non-teaching jobs

Just as significant for school personnel offices has been the influx of applications for non-teaching positions. In Fairfax County, where the local airline industry was hit with the three-week shutdown of Reagan National Airport, officials were able to hire several former airline employees for clerical and maintenance jobs.

In Austin, Texas, where job applications are up 35 percent over last year, Michael Houser, executive director of human resources, says he recently snatched up several highly trained computer technicians–just in time to help the school system with a major computer conversion.

Recent economic woes also have helped several school systems ease their critical shortage in part-time help–specifically with finding enough substitute teachers. Chicago has seen a 50 percent jump in its substitute pool. And, in Wake County, a recent orientation session about substitute teaching drew 100 people–a big jump over the usual 10 to 15 attendees.

Such a favorable job market, however, is hardly universal. Many school systems–urban, suburban, and rural–report no significant rise in job applications. In some communities, school officials were still scrambling as late as November to fill vacant positions with qualified personnel.

What's more, some education experts warn that any short-term gains are unlikely to help offset the nation's looming teacher shortage. Some estimates suggest public schools will need to hire 2.5 million teachers in the next decade.

"In the long run, I don't think teaching will benefit from these short-term benefits," Haselkorn says.

Shortage still exists

Teacher recruitment also will remain problematic as long as teacher salaries remain up to 25 percent lower than that of private sector workers with an equivalent education, he says. And there's some question as to whether schools will be able to keep some of their newly hired staff once the economy rebounds and more high-paying corporate jobs become available.

A long-term solution also will elude school systems until they tackle the issue of teacher retention, says Jon Snyder, dean of the graduate program at the Bank Street College of Education. Until school officials provide adequate support and mentoring for new teachers, staff turnover in many schools will remain high–and thus fuel the demand for more teachers.

Still, he says, school boards should take advantage of the current situation–and grab the more promising job applicants. "If you act quickly, and reduce unnecessary barriers to hiring people . . . you've got a short-term [hiring opportunity] that will stand you in good stead."