Shortage of Teachers Not Likely: Study

WASHINGTON — A predicted teacher shortage probably will not materialize because many veterans who left the profession are returning, a study said today.

The National Center for Education Information said that 38% of current public school teachers have had at least one break from teaching.

Nearly half of the new teachers hired since 1985 have had at least one break, and 18% of these have had two or more breaks.

“Teaching appears to be a revolving door,” the study said.

“There is absolutely no question” that statistics projecting teacher shortages are not accurate, said Emily Feistritzer, director of the center, an independent, nonpartisan research group. She said little attention has been paid to the “returning teacher phenomenon.”

“All this business of teachers being miserable and leaving is not being borne out in data anywhere,” she said.

The study analyzed the results of a 58-question survey of 3,201 current elementary and secondary school teachers--2,380 public school teachers, 469 teachers who had participated in alternative teacher certification programs in Texas and New Jersey and 352 private school teachers.