A teacher normally must serve a satisfactory probationary period of 3 years before attaining tenure. Tenure is not an automatic guarantee of job security, but is does provide some protection. Employment Secondary school teachers held 1,184,000 jobs in 1990. More than 90 percent taught in public schools. In addition, some of the 279,000 special education teachers worked in secondary schools.
Employment is distributed geographically much the same as the population.
Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement All 50 States and the District of Columbia require public secondary school teachers to be certified. Many States require teachers in private and parochial schools to be certified as well. Usually certification is granted by the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Education, or a Certification Advisory Committee. Requirements for certification to teach at the secondary school level vary by State, and school systems may have additional requirements. However, in all States and the District of Columbia, teachers need a bachelor's degree from an approved teacher training program with a prescribed number of credits in the subject they plan to teach.