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Teaching Credential/MA Program - School of Education

Your Career

Young Gardeners

"Why do we teach? It is an important question. One that many credential students find staring back at them after a brutal day out in the trenches, but for me the answer is simple…I teach because of the students. I teach because I am passionate about education. I teach because there is nothing more rewarding in the world than to see a light bulb go off in a young person’s mind. I teach because the smile I give to a student might be the only smile he receives all day.” --Megan Sheridan('05 BS, '08 Credential)

Why Teach?

Teaching is Rewarding
Teachers lay the foundation for all other professions. No other profession can claim to have this profound influence on society.

Teaching is Challenging
Teachers are usually goal-oriented, driven to provide a service to their communities. They are life-long learners who embrace change and diversity. Teachers tend to be leaders among their families and friends, and welcome the chance to spend their professional lives leading our youth on the path to adulthood.

Great Teachers Make a Difference
As a teacher, you may have up to 30 students per year. If you choose to teach for 30 years, you could influence the intellectual and emotional development of nearly 1,000 people. Some of those people will go on to be leaders in their communities; they will become parents; some will become teachers themselves. Some of your students will come from communities with few opportunities; from families that abuse or neglect them. Some will see you as a role model, a coach, a friend, a lifeline to another world.

Teaching Offers a Number of Tangible Benefits

Compensation
Many people assume that the teaching profession is low-paying, but the California Department of Education reports these average annual salaries for 2003-04:

  • Beginning teachers: $34,000- $37,000
  • Mid-range: $50,000-$60,000
  • High range: $60,000 - $78,000

Other Benefits
In addition to average professional compensation levels, teaching offers many other benefits. These include generous retirement benefits, life-long learning opportunities, college loan forgiveness opportunities, a variety of pathways to earning the teaching credential, and the autonomy that comes with being a classroom teacher.

The Need for Teachers is Great--Check out the Facts!

  • Experts predict that over the next ten years the nation will need 2.2 to 2.4 million teachers. That means there will be 150,000 to 250,000 openings for teachers in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools.
  • Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in public high schools is expected to increase by 4%.
  • More than 25% of teachers are at least 50 years old and the median age is 44.

What kinds of teachers are needed most?

(source: National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse)

For current job openings visit: http://www.calteach.com.
For career information check out: Internship & Career Center - Education & Teaching.