While the student population increases by 100,000 per year, a mandate for smaller classrooms has created a serious teacher shortage throughout the state. Within the next decade, an estimated 300,000 new teachers will be required to meet the demand. Meanwhile, older teachers are projected to begin retiring in large numbers. According to a 1997 report in the Wall Street Journal, almost one third of all U.S. teachers had, at the time, been in the profession for more than 20 years. As a result of these various factors, a crisis looms.
Many school districts are so desperate to fill positions that they have waived full certification.
In fact, to date, an estimated 30,000 teachers statewide have been issued emergency credentials. Shelia Maclean says she and her husband have always been service-oriented people, so becoming teachers was a natural choice for them. After 10 years of marriage, it has reinvigorated our relationship. According to a recent report by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, National University prepares and recommends more individuals for Single Subject, Multiple Subject, and Special Education Teaching Credentials than any other single California institution of higher education. It allowed us to keep our careers, pay our bills, raise our family and still get our education.