Job Fair for Teachers Is a Reality Check

Suited up and armed with a stack of resumes, Julie Newsome marched up to the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District’s hiring booth at the Los Angeles County Teacher Recruitment Fair on Saturday and got straight to the point: “Are you hiring?” she asked.

“Not this year,” answered Richard Bernier, a recruiter for the district.

“Well, are you laying off?” Newsome replied.

“We’ve sent out a few notices,” Bernier said.

That was all the 24-year-old job hunter needed to know. She headed for the next booth.

“Anybody who is wishy-washy, I am moving on,” said Newsome, a fully credentialed teacher who is employed by the Bellflower Unified School District, and who was recently notified, like thousands of California teachers last week, that her job may be on the line because of tight budgets. Although many educators who received such notification may not lose their jobs, because districts are awaiting final word on budgets from the state, many, like Newsome, said they were submitting applications just in case.

Newsome was one of 1,600 people who braved pouring rain and hourlong lines to meet with recruiters during the annual teacher recruitment fair at the Norwalk Arts and Sports Complex. The event began at 9 a.m., but many eager candidates arrived with umbrellas and briefcases at 7 a.m., before most recruiters.

In Orange County, about 1,000 showed up at a similar job fair in Buena Park.

Applicants included recent college graduates with teaching certificates but no jobs, teachers afraid of being laid off and people trying to switch from careers in such fields as technology, management and even show business.

Bonlyn Taylor-Walls, 49, spent the morning making the rounds in Norwalk, discouraged because some wouldn’t even accept her resume. She has been an elementary school teacher for more than 12 years, but is trying to relocate from San Jose to the Los Angeles area.

Her husband, George Walls, followed her, carrying folders containing letters of recommendation for his wife and a homemade computer-designed graph illustrating the achievements her students made on standardized tests. “It had been a tough morning,” he said.

Then, after visiting several booths, Taylor-Walls approached her husband and announced happily, “I got an interview!”

Nearly 50 districts sent representatives to the job fair in Norwalk, each trying to lure the top applicants with such freebies as fortune cookies and pens. But, because of budget constraints, most did not even know if they had positions open.

The hiring turnout was encouraging for districts, even if they couldn’t promise jobs. There were 1,000 more attendees than the previous year, and most had classroom experience and full credentials, meaning they had completed the coursework and tests required by state law.

But for many candidates, the job options seemed bleak.

“I’ve been getting rejection letter after rejection letter,” said Krista Wright, 32, a fully credentialed applicant. “In school, I always heard, ‘You will have no problem getting a job.’ But times are rough; there are lots of people looking for teaching jobs right now.”

A nationwide teacher shortage is easing, as many districts say they have been flooded with applications for teaching positions in recent months. As a result, the hiring bar has been raised, and most districts are rejecting applicants who lack full credentials.

The shift is mostly due to a weakened economy, because many people who have lost jobs in fields such as technology are turning to teaching. The hiring climate is further complicated because districts are unsure of their budgets. As many as 30,000 teachers and administrators in California began receiving the notices this week that they might be laid off, a precautionary response to state budget woes.

“This is the first year where about half of our districts are waiting to see if they can hire,” said Bonnie Cohn, director of the Los Angeles County Teacher Recruitment Center.

“Like every district, we’re looking for the teachers of the future,” said Bernier of Hacienda La Puente. “But because of budget problems, we just don’t know what openings we will have.”

In Buena Park, many attending were discouraged by the dim prospects, despite the presence of recruiters from 14 districts.

“I’ve been looking for a job for two years, and it’s very hard,” said Mary Joan Eifler, a transplant from Seattle, where she taught high school physical education. The districts “were here, but a lot of them weren’t taking applications.”

The situation was less grim for math, science and special education teachers, who are still sorely needed in many schools.

The 747,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District tried to take full advantage of other districts’ dire financial situations. L.A. Unified, which has been trying for years to attract more credentialed teachers, expects to hire about 2,500 this year. In the past, the district has had to employ more teachers than it wanted who did not meet all state standards. Last year, the district was able to hire 2,500 teachers from among 25,000 applicants. This year, it is expecting even more job seekers.

Nine L.A. Unified recruiters granted interviews Saturday only to fully credentialed applicants. Weary job hunters waited in line for nearly an hour just to chat with a recruiter. The district offered the top candidates early contracts, allowing them to sign on right away, guaranteeing them positions, although details of their placement would not be worked out until later.

“Obviously, a lot of people are being rejected, sadly to say,” said Carolina Pavia, a recruiter for the district. “But we are reaping the benefits. We’ve had more credentialed people come to our table than we’ve ever had, and that’s really exciting.”

L.A. Unified has been steadily raising its number of fully credentialed teachers. Last year, 49% of its 2,500 hires were fully credentialed, compared to 33.5% the prior year and 25% in 1998-99.

Hiring top teachers is especially important for districts nationwide, because they are facing sharp pressure under the federal “No Child Left Behind” law, which requires all teachers to be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-06 school year. That includes teachers who are fully credentialed or soon will be.

Such standards and fierce competition have made it especially difficult for David Douglas, 45, to land a teaching job.

Douglas turned to teaching recently after he was laid off while working as a food sales broker. He lost another job in the same field recently, when the company folded. He has a business degree and several years of experience managing and training salespeople.

“I’ve been in sales meetings, and I have no problem standing up in front of people and talking,” he said. “I really enjoy working with kids. But I’m trying to fight with all these credentialed people to get a job.”

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Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.