Employment losses in public education are tumbling, and noticeably enough for the nation’s labor secretary to offer words of concern.
Yahoo! Finance reports on the latest observations from U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who says that the decline of working adults in education after a boost over the summer, should earn a look from economists and state officials.
“In the educational sector, there’s something going on there we have to do some more research on,” Walsh said, “particularly the education public sector number. I think a lot of people expected with school starting that we’d see that number a lot higher… I’ll say it was disappointing.”
Employment decreased by 144,000 in local government education and by 17,000 in state government education in September. Employment changed little in private education, which dropped by 19,000.
According to the monthly jobs report, sector employment fell by 144,000 in local government education and by 17,000 in state government education in September. Employment changed little in private education, which dropped by 19,000.
These losses, which pair dangerously with the crisis in paraprofessional and substitute teacher shortages, have stretched already thin budgets further with the need for hiring bonuses, enhanced marketing and recruiting efforts, and salary increases to encourage retention.
