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Light Rain Finding that first teaching job
Educators of educators weigh in on preparing for a career
Second of two parts.
There is little doubt that the recession is finding its way into the classroom. Last week, young job hunters in the field of education and school district administrators teamed up to tell the story of how competitive the job market for teachers has become on Long Island.
Though it may feel like combing fields in search of a four-leaf clover, landing a teaching job on Long Island is about more than dumb luck, educators say. “Number one, it’s in the connections,” said Dr. Esther Fusco, chairwoman of the Hofstra University Department of Education. “As in any business, connections are very important.”
To ensure that connections are forged and a support network is established, Hofstra requires its future teachers to complete 250 hours of field work, and that’s before they enter a school as a student-teacher.
Fusco insisted that although the job market has been tough in recent years, there are still jobs to be found. She said that district administrators regularly ask her for recommendations for candidates, and she is continually sending out résumés and recommendations to districts that are looking to hire. In fact, just last week one of her former students landed a third-grade teaching job in what she described as a “prestigious” Long Island school district.
At least some teachers who have been unable to secure jobs, however, say they think that having to know someone to get a job subverts the concept of merit-based hiring. Oceanside resident Pete Grogan, 35, who has been a permanent substitute at Merrick Avenue Middle School for three years, recalled that he was offered a summer position in the district where he did his student-teaching, but he didn’t get the job because it went to “somebody’s nephew.”
“There’s always somebody who doesn’t think the process is fair, but we keep trying to get what we consider to be the very best for the district,” said Richard Banyon, deputy superintendent of the Malverne School District, who has worked as an administrator on Long Island since 1980.
