We’ve all heard it time and time again. “Education is the key to a higher income,” or “Education will advance your career.” Some of us have learned through our own experiences that these statements aren’t always necessarily true. We have also heard from various sources, that “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It’s a matter of politics and how well you mingle and network with others. Although we can’t help how our personalities are, does this mean that other people who normally are shy and introverted around those they don’t know get ostracized by the job market and therefore wonder how they will now pay off those student loans and credit card bills they accumulated through their college years? It seems that way specific regions of the country, such as in Central Indiana.
I graduated from the University of North Texas with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Mathematics. Soon after graduating, I received my Texas teaching license in which I became certified to teach elementary school and mathematics at the middle school level. I knew there was a high demand for teachers, with some school districts even offering bonuses in order to attract and recruit new ones, but my heart belonged to Indiana. My husband was willing to make the move with me back to the state where I grew up and where my family was. I eventually took the required tests in order to earn my Indiana teaching license. Soon afterwards, I applied to various school districts surrounding the Indianapolis area. I was unaware that it would be this hard to get a teaching job in Indiana. To my surprise, central Indiana had more prospective teachers than jobs available. The heartbreaking truth was that the supply was greater than the demand. I did some networking on my own and discovered that often times one must either be a substitute first or a teacher’s assistant as a means of getting one’ foot in the door before getting hired on as a teacher. This is feasible for some but for parents of small children who require childcare this can mean breaking even or barely having money left over for other things.
This was a hard lesson for me and for other qualified teachers who couldn’t get hired or even an interview. My suggestion to other prospective teachers would be to research first before they decide to earn a teaching degree. Decide where you really want to live and do the research in order to determine if there is a market for teachers. Some regions of the country, such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona are begging for teachers since they don’t have enough for the rapidly growing population in those areas. I have heard of many teachers in Indiana who have moved away to other parts of the country simply because they want to be teachers more than anything and have the greatest impact of young children’s lives. For others, though, we have husbands and other family members to consider and either must make the choice to keep applying and persisting or give up entirely in order to save ourselves more heartbreak and devastation. There is only so much rejection a human being can take.
My college degree wasn’t a waste. In fact, it’s a gift that even though I don’t intend to use it in the public schools anymore, my own two girls will have a teacher at home who will guide them through the academic trials and tribulations throughout their school years. My five-year-old who has several months before Kindergarten can already read and do simple addition and my one-year-old is constantly developing new vocabulary at a staggering rate. They didn’t learn how to do these things on their own, either. All in all, the schools are missing out what could have been a powerfully impacting teacher on the lives of other young children besides those of my own.
