Applications to UCLA’s Teacher Education Program have fallen about 20 percent from last year, reflecting concerns over the stability of teaching jobs in recent years.
Economic downturns and layoffs in local school districts have discouraged prospective students from applying, said Annamarie Francois, interim director of TEP.
The two-year graduate teaching program sends students to work as teaching assistants in Los Angeles schools their first year and as full-time teachers their second year.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is currently in the process of laying off 5,000 teachers to adjust to budget cuts as the funding for education continues to be unstable. This has been a further deterrent to potential teaching school applicants, Francois said.
“The job market is dismal for teachers,” said Lawrence Berkowitz, a first-year student in TEP. “People like me are trying to make their own job with the same purpose.”
The program is working to help ensure its graduates are employed.
Exact figures of the program’s graduate employment rate were not available, however, Francois said.
The number of students in the program itself has stayed relatively steady, however.
Some students accepted into the program end up going to other schools that offer them financial aid, even though UCLA was their first choice, said Jackie Honda, TEP program manager.
There are currently about 280 students in the program, which has stayed constant in recent years, said June Chou, TEP program coordinator.
To attract a larger applicant pool, the program is seeking more grant money to make available to students, and they are working on creating new programs.
An urban teacher residency program that began last year will cut the length of the program from two years to 18 months.
More will be done in the future to further streamline the program, Francois said.
While new teachers are the most vulnerable to being laid off, many students are pursuing less traditional ways to work in schools apart from teaching, Francois said.
Berkowitz has embraced the idea of seeking alternative employment.
He said he does not consider teaching his first choice for a career.
Instead, he wants to open an after-school non-profit music education program for students.
“I want to give kids an opportunity they haven’t had,” Berkowitz said. “That 20 percent (of applicants) that dropped probably didn’t have the constitution to do that.”
Otherwise, Berkowitz said he will try to find employment as a public school teacher in Los Angeles.