2nd-Career Teachers See Pluses, Minuses

For nearly 15 years, Rick Villano managed retail stores, working up to 70 hours a week and often feeling stressed out and unsatisfied.

Now he’s teaching high school math and comes home feeling tired but exhilarated. Although his pay was cut by a third and he still works late some days, he is finally spending time the way he wants instead of how his employer wants.

“In retail, I was working every holiday and every weekend,” Villano said. “I’m still working long hours, but I’m helping kids learn math. I’m not helping Kinko’s make more money.”

Villano, 39, is among a growing number of professionals who are taking pay cuts to become teachers in schools throughout California. Looking for more flexible and rewarding careers, they are leaving jobs as engineers, lawyers and salesmen for the classroom.

Some were forced out by budget cuts or downsizing, while others simply had enough corporate stress and wanted to spend more time with their families.

Nobody knows exactly how many second-career teachers have joined the ranks in the last few years, but state officials and educators say that new incentives, rising salaries and aggressive recruitment are luring them to the classroom. And that new corps of teachers is helping fill the state’s severe teacher shortage, which is forcing a number of uncredentialed teachers into the classroom.

At the same time, more California colleges and universities are offering alternative programs that speed up the process for people entering the teaching profession as a second career. Rather than taking time off to go to school full time, the participants can begin teaching immediately while they take classes at night or on weekends.

The number of state-funded alternative teacher certification programs in California has increased from 29 to 65 in the last six years. And the number of people being certified as teachers through those programs has more than tripled, according to the National Center for Education Information. In the last school year, California certified 7,923 program graduates as teachers, compared with 1,238 in 1994-95.

The flexibility of the alternative program appealed to Villano. He teaches during the day at Nordhoff High School and takes afternoon classes toward his teaching credential and his master’s degree at Cal State Northridge.

After three months in the classroom, Villano said, he does not feel nervous anymore. He has control of the class. Most of the students turn in their homework. And there haven’t been any major discipline problems. He attributes much of that to his management experience, a skill that translates well into teaching.

“I’ve had rough days, but I don’t think I’ve had horrific, terrible days,” he said.

But on those rough days, Villano struggles to keep his students motivated. “The hardest thing is the kids who don’t want to learn and don’t care,” he said. “I can’t force a kid to do his homework.”

For Some, a Dose of Culture Shock

Villano said he doesn’t think teaching is for everybody. “It really depends on the career,” he said. “If somebody goes from engineering straight into teaching, it’s going to be a culture shock.”

Charles Cornwell, 30, also decided to go into teaching after a first career as a lawyer. He is teaching fifth grade at Ventura’s Sheridan Way Elementary School, the same campus he attended as a child. And he is taking credential classes in the afternoons.

Last year, Cornwell worked part time at the school as a coach. That hooked him. This fall, he exchanged his briefcase for a backpack, and his suits for casual clothes. “It was a positive atmosphere,” Cornwell said. “That’s not something I’d see in the legal field.”

As a lawyer, Cornwell made nearly $200 an hour. As a teacher, he makes about $200 a day. And with $60,000 in loans to pay off from law school at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, Cornwell said making the switch was the most difficult decision he has ever made. He said he expects to do some legal consulting work on the side to pay his bills.

“Financially, it’s hard,” he said. “But teaching is something I truly love to do. This is the only job I’ve ever had that I loved coming to work.”

Besides the personal fulfillment, Cornwell said he likes the stability of teaching. He doesn’t have to drum up business, work erratic hours or worry about losing his job. Nor does he have to deal with the stressful demands of court and clients. Practicing law was about making money, he said, while teaching is about helping students learn.

But the job is more challenging than he expected. Most of his students do not speak fluent English. They read at several different levels. And they are talkative and rambunctious. Still, he feels he is making a difference in their lives.

Critics say that this new teacher corps isn’t as prepared as recent college graduates because they do not get the same training. But school administrators say that mid-career teachers are held to the same standards as everyone else, and that they are just as qualified.

“They bring relevance and experience to the subjects they’re teaching,” said Cary Dritz, Simi Valley’s assistant superintendent. “They also bring maturity and a tremendous desire to be successful.”

Like other new teachers, though, some quickly get overwhelmed.

Janelle Sharp lasted only one year as a teacher before returning to a career in engineering. “I didn’t think I’d have the disciplinary problems I did,” she said. “Teaching is more for someone who is really bold and can stand up to the kids.”

Sharp, 29, said engineering is more predictable and less challenging, and it does not require as many people skills as teaching did.

Last year, the state embarked on a $1-million advertising campaign aimed at luring middle-aged professionals to the teaching profession. Officials also expanded CalTeach, which provides information and referrals to prospective teachers.

School districts are expanding their efforts too, with some specifically reaching out to mid-career professionals.

Rising teacher salaries are making recruitment efforts a little easier. This year, several districts have offered their teachers double-digit raises, funded by a new pot of $1.8 billion in unrestricted state education funds. But beginning salaries for teachers still hover around $30,000.

In addition to taking pay cuts, second-career teachers face another financial barrier. Most California school districts do not participate in the Social Security retirement system. As a result, the switch to teaching can cost teachers a large amount in retirement benefits.

Nancy S. Brownell, director the Cal State University Institute for Education Reform, said the mid-career teachers may be influenced by the incentives and rising salaries, but lifestyle is still the stronger motivation. “They are in a situation where money doesn’t drive their decision,” Brownell said. “It is more of a focus on wanting to help and give back.”

That’s why Anne Chess gave up a career as a veterinarian and became a teacher at Moorpark High School three years ago. Chess, 50, knows the challenges--financially and emotionally. She is making half of what she made as a veterinarian, and is struggling to make her house payments. She still does veterinary work during the summers to supplement her income.

Chess said she had trouble getting used to the teenagers’ attitudes, and jokingly compared them to the animals she treated. “The animals don’t always know they are being helped, so they kick and bite,” she said. “Sometimes the students react the same way.”