As a result of budget cuts in the ongoing economic crisis, a growing number of teachers across Minnesota are out of work and unable to find other jobs in education, according to a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The statewide teachers’ union, Education Minnesota, predicts between 500 and 800 teachers lost their jobs in June upon the completion of their contracts. The teacher supply in Minnesota massively overwhelms the demand, as the state grants around 10,000 new teacher’s licenses each year while only 1,500 teachers annually decide to retire.
The agreement between the schools and the teachers’ union necessitates the first layoffs coming from the pool of untenured teachers, in a state where teachers attain tenure by working in a district for three years. This means that fresh, new faces in Minnesota’s teaching pool may be forced out of jobs, leaving older teaching staffs intact.
Math, science, and special education, however, are three areas in which teachers are experiencing a reprieve. Jessica Bro is a math teacher in Oakdale who lost her job in May and found a new teaching job before school let out for summer. She said, “I went into math for the security of it. Everybody needs a math and science teacher. You’re basically guaranteed a job.”