Help with Careers in Classics: K-12 Latin teaching

Today’s post is shorter than usual, but it has an amazing table.

If you know anyone who was on the job market this year, you know that it was a ‘bad year’ for Latinists (you can judge for yourself at the public Placement Service site; there haven’t been that many new additions in the past month). In response, the Society for Classical Studies pointed out that Latin, unlike Greek, has many precollegiate teaching opportunities. (Sorry, Canadians: this message applies to the US only.)

The SCS has been running advisories for a while about the increasing number of jobs in middle and high school Latin instruction. In North America, listings are centralized at the American Classical League’s free Placement Service (in the UK, a similar centralized job repository is Stephen Jenkins’ Classics Library). But most public schools in the US have strict requirements around who can teach young adults. In many states, having an advanced degree and classroom experience is not enough — hence the talk of Latin teacher shortages.

The SCS gathered some data about teacher licensure, but the report dates to 2011. Since K-12 education in the US has changed a lot since then (replacement of NCLB with ESSA, the rise of the CCSS — and you should know these acronyms if you’re interested in pre-collegiate teaching), we cross-checked the SCS material with the ongoing updates at teach.com (warning: the site is run by 2U, an online education provider that runs a distance-based MAT program out of USC). We then cross-listed the teaching requirements with the jobs in the ACL listings (current as of May 7, 2016).

To use our table, locate the state(s) you’re interested in. The next column lists teaching certification requirements: do you need a degree of any level in education? The third column offers details on licensure, with a specific focus on alternative licensure. (Alternative licensure is for people who have advanced degrees and/or applicable experience, such as Latin teaching, but no education degree. Several states allow you to start teaching while enrolled in an MAT program.) The final column lists the number of open Latin/Classics positions in the state, regardless of grade level or experience. Once you’ve located the state that you want, you can head to the ACL site (linked above) and “Sort by state [A-Z]” to locate the position(s) that interest you.

Teaching Latin in the USA

State	Formal Training Required?	Further Details	Jobs Available
Alabama	Yes	More Information	3
Alaska	Yes	More Information	0
Arizona	Yes	More Information	7
Arkansas	Yes	More Information	0
California	Yes	More Information	3
Colorado	Yes	More Information	5
Connecticut	Yes	More Information	1
Delaware	Yes	More Information	1
District of Columbia	Yes	More Information	2
Florida	Yes	More Information	9
Georgia	Yes	More Information	8
Hawaii	Yes	More Information	0
Idaho	Yes	More Information	0
Illinois	Yes	More Information	4
Indiana	Yes	More Information	3
Iowa	Yes	More Information	0
Kansas	Yes	More Information	0
Kentucky	Yes	More Information	2
Louisiana	Yes	More Information	2
Maine	Yes	More Information	0
Maryland	Yes	More Information	3
Massachusetts	Yes	More Information	4
Michigan	Yes	More Information	3
Minnesota	Yes	More Information	2
Mississippi	Yes	More Information	0
Missouri	Yes	More Information	1
Montana	Yes	More Information	0
Nebraska	Yes	More Information	0
Nevada	Yes	More Information	0
New Hampshire	No, but must demonstrate teaching ability.	More Information	1
New Jersey	No for CE. Yes for CEAS.	More Information	8
New Mexico	Yes	More Information	1
New York	Yes, 21 credits.	More Information	12
North Carolina	Yes	More Information	8
North Dakota	Yes	More Information	0
Ohio	Yes	More Information	2
Oklahoma	Yes	More Information	2
Oregon	Yes	More Information	0
Pennsylvania	Yes	More Information	7
Rhode Island	Yes	More Information	0
South Carolina	Yes	More Information	1
South Dakota	Yes	More Information	0
Tennessee	Yes	More Information	5
Texas	Yes	More Information	11
Utah	Yes	More Information	0
Vermont	Yes	More Information	1
Virginia	Yes	More Information	10
Washington	Yes	More Information	0
West Virginia	Yes	More Information	0
Wisconsin	Yes	More Information	1
Wyoming	Yes	More Information	2

As you’ll see from the list, most states require certification before starting your job. A few exceptions: Massachusetts, which allows you to teach while enrolled; New Jersey, which has two separate teaching streams for certified and uncertified teachers; and New Hampshire, which doesn’t require certification. These requirements mean that if you want to teach in a public school system (including ‘alternative’ public schools, like charters), you should look into MAT programs — and preferably do it before you’re ready to go on the job market.  If you really want to teach in a private school, requirements may be different; private schools don’t have to follow state education guidelines, and may be willing to overlook formal education in favor of experience.

Note, too, that there aren’t all that many jobs available (sorry, SCS). Yes, there are several dozen positions, many posted from March to April, but there’s also increased competition. None of these jobs requires an advanced degree, so a fresh-faced double-major in education and Latin would in fact be more qualified than many doctoral students.

We’re not suggesting that anyone rule out K-12 teaching as a career if it’s something they really want to do, but there’s more to getting the job than just finishing graduate school. If you’re interested in teaching in a particular state or area, it’s worthwhile to go through the ‘details’ of getting certified. You may not be too late to enroll in education courses for the fall.

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~J.