TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Education Majors Confident About Job Prospects

ADVERTISEMENT

By ERIKA FLORES

Special to the Tribune

Published: May 14, 2008

TAMPA - Stephanie Ray can say she's in a better position than some of her friends who just graduated from the University of South Florida: She actually has a good chance of getting a job.

The intern at Robinson Elementary School and an elementary education major said her principal has already told her that if there's an open position, she will probably get it.

And she has good reason to believe that.

Hillsborough County will hire about 800 new teachers this summer, schools spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said. In addition to 647 instructional vacancies, the district needs 150 teachers for the new school year to meet the state mandated class-size amendment.

In the midst of a bad economy, education majors in Florida appear to be recession-proof - particularly for in-state graduates.

"The majority of those hired are from Florida, from USF actually," Cobbe said.

Ray has heard from her friends, however, that they're not so sure about job prospects in their fields.

"I do have friends that are in different majors, I have some friends in history majors and other fields. I have a couple in broadcasting, so I know some of them have already been worried about if they will have a job and some are considering crossing over to education," Ray said.

The demand for teachers isn't limited to Hillsborough County.

"The state of Florida is lucky that even though we're in the flat growth right now, that's not going to last for long. We're going to need to fill our pools with quality teachers. If you are a special education teacher, if you are a reading teacher, science teacher, math teacher, there's going to be demand now for those people," said Roy Sprinkle, director of human resources for the Sarasota County school district.

Sarasota County will hire about 150 new teachers, Sprinkle said.

The Florida Department of Education projects that 17,000 to 23,500 teachers will be hired per year statewide from the 2007-08 to the 2016-17 school years to compensate for retirement, resignations or terminations, enrollment growth and class-size reductions.

Education students seeking employment outside of Florida don't fare so well, however.

"In the Northeast they seem to have a more difficult time. It's a little more competitive up there than it is in Florida," said Merrie Tankersley, director of interns at the University of Tampa. "So our students that go back up north to small towns, they sometimes have a little more difficulty finding positions."

Those applying for a Hillsborough teaching position must first apply online, after which applicants can either set up in-person interviews with school principals, or like most applicants, attend the county's Teacher Interview Days, an annual job fair where principals gather to hire for the new school year. This year, the event is June 11 and 12.

Some students get a lucky break and get offered a job even earlier.

Tankersley said many of her students have been told by their principals, "'If I have something here I'm going to do my best to find it for you and have a position for you.'"

Ray has signed up for Hillsborough's job fair in June, but hopes a position at Robinson Elementary will open up for her.

But even if Ray doesn't get her first-choice teaching job, she knows it will still be easy for her and her fellow education majors to land a job.

"Basically, if they're an education major they've got a job," she said.

Reporters MacKenzie Clark and Lane Brooks contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT