Reading, Writing and Unemployment

With lay-offs on the horizon, education majors wonder what's next for themby Denisse MorenoCCNY student Suleyka Merced always dreamed of helping her community, so she decided to study education. But her dream of becoming a teacher is now up in the air thanks to the layoffs proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg."Mayor Bloomberg needs to understand that people who want to be teachers really want to help educate our young generation," says Merced, 22.Adds education major Christopher Loannou: "I think it's a disgrace. Our leaders keep stressing the importance of education, but when budget cuts need to be done, teachers are the first to get axed."Loannou and Merced are not the only ones frustrated by the layoffs.Teachers, parents and students all over the city are worried that if the mayor's plan becomes a reality, 4,675 teachers will lose their jobs, affecting 80 percent of the 1,600 public schools in New York City. At this point, seniority-rather than merit-determines which teachers will be let go. According to this so-called "last in, first out" policy, teachers new to the profession will be the first to be laid off due to lack of experience. (Teachers who specialize in ESL, Special Education and Speech Improvement won't be affected, because those jobs are difficult to fill.)At CCNY, education majors are bracing for layoffs and planning accordingly. "To increase my chances of being hired, I will major as a bilingual and concentrate in Special Education for my graduate degree," says Suleyka Merced, who's also studying Spanish. "Many students are going to major in that--I know I am--because I need a job."Education major Mariela Rosario, 21, is also making sure she's qualified for the hard-to-fill jobs and plans to get her masters in ESL.  "ESL does not limit you, because New York City is so diverse," says Rosario.Others have simply decided to be more determined-and aggressive.  "You really need to put yourself out there, even if it will be as an assistant with no pay," says Loannou who plans to teach math for secondary schools.Merced is sending out applications to private and charter schools because she was told, "the [Department of Education] is not hiring and will not hire for this fall."Loannou is working his connections. "I personally have a family member who is a principal in a school in the Bronx," he says. "She lets me assist teachers a few hours a week in order to get the feel for the high school teaching environment."Along with feeling worried, many who hope to be teachers some day are also angry by the mayor's layoff threats. "I think the mayor is treating the education system like a business," says Rosario. "If he does this, it will mess up the entire future generation."