[Phanos9999]

My aunt is graduating in January and is about to start looking for jobs in december. I was just wondering are there any jobs in michigan for teachers? Is there any hope of her finding a job? I know my wife had a hard time and we left the state. And she was certified and had many many honors. Is there anyone in Michigan that is having the same issues? Are many soon to be teachers leaving the state as well? And why is it so hard to find a teaching job here?

[fallingwater]

Not sure. I have two family members that are teachers. The one goes from year to year hoping he has a job. Last year he was laid off and called back in late Nov. after the district obtained some unexpected grant. Looking out of state might be a good idea.

[jaynarie]

Not many. Michigan is one of the top teacher-producing states. Getting a teaching job in Michigan is completely political- it is all about who you know.

I subbed for 2 years and in that time had exactly one job interview. I began looking out of state and was offered about 20 jobs (including 2 on the spot). I have friends that subbed for 5 years and never had a single job interview before they looked out of state.

Applicants per position are typically in the thousands. If you do not know someone, you don't get the job. Out of all the people I graduated with, I know of one who got a position in Michigan. Both her mom and her mother-in-law work at the school she got a job at. One other friend of mine moved back to Michigan after teaching elsewhere for 3 years. She teaches at a charter school in Detroit. She has had to find a new position every year.

So, to sum it up, I would have a back-up plan. My biggest regret is not looking out of state immediately.

[jaynarie]

As to why it is so hard- Michigan's population is declining. So fewer teachers are needed every year. Add that to the fact that Michigan produces a lot of teachers. The market is over-saturated because teachers aren't being replaced as people retire. Yet the colleges keep pumping out more teachers.
Plus, teaching jobs are scarce everywhere now. Due to the economy, schools' budgets have been slashed. Class sizes are up and support positions have been cut, so fewer teachers are needed in general.

[danielj72]

Sorry to say there are not many teaching jobs here. Your best bet is if you are special ed, or secondary math and science. School bugets are cut, teaching pay and benefits are being cut as is the story in many places. It could be years before there are any jobs in teaching here again. Leaving Michigan may be her best bet, at least for a few years.

[zthatzmanz28]

I am coming back in JUne. My wife has a pretty good job offer and I will follow--since she came here when I needed a job. Even teaching jobs here in NC are harder to find.

I am expecting to either find other work than teaching (wouldn't break my heart!!) or possible doing consult / advocate work related to SpEd.
I looked at several websites this past month and found NOTHING other than a few support positions like social work, psychologist, and speech. And I have a SpEd endorsement and HQ in Michigan.....There may be a better opportunity on the west side of the state?

They say Virginia, Wyoming, or South Dakota might have more positions? This is NOT the time to be graduating as a teacher

[Coldjensens]

Word got out that Michigan is one of the top paying states for teachers. That means that teachers not only came from other states, but also lots of MI students decided to go into teaching. In addition, Michigan has an unusually large number of top quality colleges and universities for its size. On top of that Michigan has on of the largest education programs at Eastern Michigan University. Put that all together and you have a lot of teachers here looking for jobs.

All districts are cutting costs. One way some are doing this is retiring older more expensive teachers and hiring younger cheaper teachers. Thus, really experienced and highly qualified teachers are at a disadvantage in some districts. Some larger districts are consolidating. Thus, where you had scattered schools in Cities like Detroit, smaller less populated schools have been closed and consolidated. Where they once needed 60 teachers to teach 1000 students, they now teach the same 1000 students with 30 teachers.

Overall there is somewhat less demand, massively greater supply and therefore very hard to find a job, especially older or more credentialed teachers. One administrator told me that they advertised an opening and they got 1200 applications, all apparently well qualified.

If a teacher has a masters or a Phd, the Union rules require higher pay. The teacher cannot even elect to ignore their advanced degree and take the same rate as less educated teachers. Thus, the union rules pretty much guarantee that masters or Phd teachers are unemployable in this market. They can teach at community colleges possibly. However community colleges generally do not care whether you have a teaching credential.

Part time positions are becoming more common.

Substitute teaching seems to be a good way to get an in. My wife did it although she is not a credentialed teacher. After a year of substituting, one school called and asked if she had a teaching credential. She said "No," they said that if she would go get credentialed, they would hire her.

However Substitute teaching pays $65 or $75 per day. Work is feast or famine. My wife would get 20 calls some months and have to turn work down left and right. Other months, she only worked 3 or 4 days the whole month. You really can only substitute if you do not need to work to survive (i.e. younger people living with parents, people with wealthy spouses, or retired people).

Substitute teaching selection is not random. Some position are randomly selected, but not all. When my wife started doing it, she got called only once in a while. After a while, some schools started asking for her. Eventually, some woudl call her on Sunday in order to get her before someone else did. She did work hard to do a good job. Too many substitutes just sit there and read the paper or text their spouse.

[jaynarie]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Substitute teaching selection is not random. Some position are randomly selected, but not all.

That can actually vary from district to district. Some places let the teacher line up the sub directly, some let them request, some don't allow requests, etc...

However, getting known as being a good sub will improve your chances of getting called regardless of the system used.

[Peter B]

I've worked with a couple of folks with teaching degrees who moved to other parts of the country to obtain employment. VERY few opportunities in Northern Michigan at least, and the ones available pay poverty wages. Keep in mind, Michigan is one of only 4 states in the USA that spends more on their prison system than education. Education is not a priority in this state as budgets are being cut and decimated regularly(\

[canudigit]

I can't speak for all of Michigan, but here in the county where I live, the homeschooling movement has really caught on and homeschoolers are proliferating more with each new school year as parents pull their kids out of the public schools for a variety of reasons. Fewer students = less money and a need for fewer teachers. I saw this same phenomenon occuring in the Phoenix area when we lived there, and people there also complained of a lack of teaching jobs. I think the face of education is just in the midst of a lot of big, painful changes right now. Public schools are obviously very necessary in our society, but having more than one option for educating our kids is also very important, IMHO. I have noticed that these new online public schools such as K12 and Connections Academy have really taken off, and I know people that attempted to enroll their kids, only to find huge waiting lists. Those schools have got to be having an impact on the number of teaching positions needing to be filled in the brick and mortar public schools.