Illinois has always been in the top ring in the field of education. All that hard work and dedication from past teachers is now beginning to pay off by increasing the market for Illinois teaching jobs.
In 2007, Illinois ranked fourth in the nation among teachers who achieved National Board Certification, and sixth in the nation for its average teacher salary, according to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends. These are but two of the reasons why Illinois teaching jobs are in demand among educators.
Fortunately, the statistics suggest that there will be plenty of jobs to go around. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois teaching jobs are expected to grow faster than the statewide average for all occupations through 2014. In fact, The United States Department of Labors statistics show that the number of people employed by Illinois education and health services industry increased of 1.5 percent between 2007 and 2008.
The largest amount of availability in Illinois teaching jobs lies in secondary education with about 3,000 jobs opening each year. However, the trend is likely to shift to post-secondary education as the Baby Boomer generation’s children enter college. Nevertheless, teaching support jobs availability will still increase in various positions such as librarians, counselors, and teacher’s aides. Support rolls are crucial to education and will always be in steady demand.
There is a great amount of opportunity for those with experienced and advanced teaching degrees who wish to teach post secondary education in Illinois. As stated before, currently most jobs like in the secondary public school realm. However, the opportunities for post-secondary schools such as The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, Illinois State University, and Loyola University of Chicago are still available.
Although each of the school districts and universities does its own hiring, all Illinois teaching jobs are ultimately regulated by the Illinois State Board of Education, which administers public education in the state and audits the performance of public schools.
