Education schools see drop in enrollment in NC

As teachers continue to leave North Carolina for more enticing opportunities, the number of students pursuing education degrees in the state follows a similarly dismal trajectory.

UNC’s School of Education has seen a 30 percent decline in enrollment since 2010, and other schools’ education programs statewide have seen an overall decrease of 17.6 percent at the undergraduate and graduate levels, according to Alisa Chapman, UNC-system vice president for academic and university programs.

Bill McDiarmid, dean of education at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the decline in enrollment could likely be traced back to policy decisions made in 2013 by the N.C. General Assembly.

The loss of funding for the N.C. Teaching Fellows scholarship program and the elimination of a bonus for teachers with master’s degrees, Chapman said, were two legislative moves that contributed to the drop.

Zoe Locklear, dean of UNC-Pembroke’s School of Education — which is down 30 percent in enrollment — said the declining figures were due in part to students being discouraged from entering the education field.

“It’s an erosion of the profession — or the perception of the profession,” she said. “Teachers themselves say, ‘You don’t want to do this for a living.’”

Locklear said that working conditions — including bigger class sizes and less money for classroom resources — and low salaries are also contributing factors. She said she has encouraged students to look to some districts in South Carolina for work because the state offers a more positive teaching environment.

The ability to earn a living and, for some, to support a family as a teacher, Locklear said, is one of the primary concerns she hears from students.

“I think it becomes very discouraging when people start comparing what their heart feels to the realization that the days are long, the conditions are tough and the salary is discouraging.”

About 30 percent of North Carolina’s estimated 95,500 employed teachers are new teachers in their first five years of service. Nationally, about half of all new teachers leave within their first five years of teaching.

But Chapman said the state’s new teacher pay hike could be a step in the right direction. The General Assembly’s raise averaged 7 percent for all teachers — and 18 percent for teachers with 10 years of experience or fewer.

“There’s more work we need to do to continue to create opportunities to help recruit, select and promote the advancement of teachers,” she said. “The more we can do to help support these beginning teachers, the better off we’re going to be.”

McDiarmid said the recent increase of beginning teacher pay in the state could make it more competitive with surrounding states — several of which were offering higher average starting salaries.

“It hurt the state both from the point of view that it reduced students who wanted to enter teacher education programs and increased recent graduates going to other states to teach,” McDiarmid said.

UNC-Chapel Hill is now requiring education majors to stay for a fifth year and earn their master’s degree, in part to improve the declining enrollment.

McDiarmid said the change in curriculum was somewhat of a risk, but it could help UNC-Chapel Hill graduates come out with a significant advantage over graduates from other schools.

“Students can possibly leave not just with a master’s degree and their license to teach, but with qualifications in different areas where they are desperately needed across the state,” McDiarmid said. “This makes them highly marketable and helps them achieve our goal that they will be able to choose their jobs from a wide selection.”

But some students aren’t convinced changes to curriculum could benefit their career in education in the long run.

Sophomore Maria Kim said she wanted to be a teacher in North Carolina but changed her mind based on the state’s treatment of education.

“I think the bigger issue with education is the lack of respect for teachers,” she said. “It’s a deeper problem than just pay — here, teaching is treated as a last-resort kind of profession.”

Senior Jean-Luc Rivera, a member of the state’s last class of Teaching Fellows, said he sometimes regrets his decision to major in education.

But Rivera said he still wants to work in education despite flaws in the N.C. education system, and he said he is hopeful about UNC-Chapel Hill’s new five-year degree program as a way to give young teachers a better foundation.

“In the long run, it ensures teachers get a better education and that we provide students with the best education program,” he said.

“In the end, student education is the most important thing.”

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