State's teacher supply plummets
December 14, 2010 | Louis Freedberg

Louis Freedberg
The number of Californians seeking to become teachers has plummeted by 45 percent over a seven year period – even as student enrollments are projected to rise by 230,000 over the next decade and as many as 100,000 teachers are expected to retire.

Teaching is clearly becoming a less and less desirable profession for Californians. The number of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs has declined from 77,705 in 2001-02 to 42,245 in 2008-09, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Those dismal figures are paralleled by an ever smaller number of teachers getting their teaching credentials in California – from 24,149 in 2004-05 to 17,797 in 2008-09, the last year for which figures are available.

A report issued today by the Center for Future of Teaching and Learning warned about the brewing crisis:

“The disinvestment in building a top quality teacher workforce is at odds with rising demands for students' academic success. The fiscal crisis has so severely damaged the pipeline for recruiting and training new teachers that teaching quality may be put at risk for many years to come.

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