A new poll finds that 60% of Americans think a depression is "likely." I'm not one of them, though I do think we're looking at a long-lasting recession. Will this be a disaster for public education? It's true that it will put strains on our system, with needy children coming to school even needier; state revenues, and thus education funding, tightening; and the flow of philanthropic dollars slowing. This last phenomenon may be particularly troublesome for the school reform movement, which has been catalyzed by private support. Had we faced a severe recession in the 1990s, there might not have been a charter school movement.
But there is a silver lining: teaching and other education jobs will suddenly look a lot more attractive to lots more people. Folks who went into the classroom during the tech boom of the late 90s might have felt like martyrs, while their friends from college went on to make zillions of dollars. Now I suspect "safety and security" won't be values relegated to the over-50 set. This means we might have an opportunity to attract higher quality people into teaching than we otherwise would, and we should capitalize on that by giving them the support to be successful and cutting the red tape that drives so many good people out of the classroom. For better or for worse, an opportunity like this is unlikely to come around again anytime soon.
