From The Associated Press
Hundreds of new Michigan teachers are leaving for positions in other states, a reflection of Michigan's shrinking number of students, wealth of teaching colleges and budget cuts that are forcing schools to cut staffs.
Since peaking in the 2004-05 academic year, the number of Michigan public school teachers has shrunk by nearly 9 percent, a loss of around 10,000 jobs, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information.
That number tracks the 8 percent drop in students to 1.56 million Michigan has seen over the past five years. But the drop in teachers also is partly attributable to shrinking state support for public education. School districts this fall must absorb a cut of at least $370 per student that's part of an overall 2.2 percent cut in state funding.
A look at the data:
-2006-07: 111,705 teachers; 1,693,436 students
-2007-08: 111,595 teachers; 1,661,414 students
-2008-09: 110,344 teachers; 1,628,628 students
-2009-10: 107,609 teachers; 1,599,851 students
-2010-11: Teacher data not available; 1,560,165 students
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Source: Teacher data is from the Center for Educational
Performance and Information; student data is from the Michigan
Department of Education.
