We went last year for the first time and there easily were 20 or 30 California school districts represented. We have high teacher standards in our district, and we have to find the best and most talented prospects we can. According to EdSource, an independent Bay Area research organization, as many as 300,000 new teachers will be needed in the next 10 years, with the sunniest projections predicting that California will do well to get 282,000 credentialed teachers into classrooms. We've done a lot of things that should have a real impact. Dishno and the other 27 superintendents in Orange County recently held a press conference calling for a moratorium on reform legislation in Sacramento until the state can design a cohesive master plan to implement change.
Nothing is thought out.
Class-size reduction, for one, is a wonderful program with lofty goals. But there weren't enough teachers, not enough money to hire them, and we only had a month's notice to put the program into effect. That, in turn, gives pause to young people considering the profession, he said. He cited a recent job vacancy for a school principal in his district that normally would have resulted in 70 or more applications but drew only 20. The job has just become too stressful.