More teachers leaving Michigan

The Detroit News reports:

Stacey Ancona has taught science at inner city and suburban high schools in Michigan, but her next teaching job will be in South Carolina.
The 24-year-old Lansing resident is one of hundreds of new teachers leaving for positions in other states, a reflection of Michigan's wealth of teaching colleges, shrinking number of students and budget woes that have forced schools to cut staffs.

Since peaking at 117,973 in the 2004-05 academic year, the number of public school teachers in Michigan has shrunk by nearly 9 percent, a loss of about 10,000 jobs, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information. That number tracks the 8 percent drop in public school students, to 1.56 million, that 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, plus rising costs for teacher pensions, technology and books. Hundreds of teachers have been handed pink slips as districts pore over the numbers and decide how many they can hire back this fall.

Teaching isn't exactly a growth industry.