Teaching Profession

Recession Derails Couple’s Plan to Become Teachers

By Christina A. Samuels — May 28, 2009 1 min read
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This New York Times article caught my eye because the couple in the lead are—or were—planning to be special education teachers:

When a Kentucky agency cut back its program to forgive student loans for schoolteachers, Travis B. Gay knew he and his wife, Stephanie—both special-education teachers—were in trouble. “We’d gotten married in June and bought a house, pretty much planned our whole life,” said Mr. Gay, 26. Together, they had about $100,000 in student loans that they expected the program to help them repay over five years. Then, he said, “we get a letter in the mail saying that our forgiveness this year was next to nothing.”

The story goes on to say that such forgiveness programs, which are usually used to lure people into high-need professions, like education, are falling victim to the bad economy. Will this cause even more of a special education teacher shortage than there already is?

A version of this news article first appeared in the On Special Education blog.