In bad economy, more people are seeking teaching licenses

From The Denver Post: More people are turning to teaching as the economy worsens , producing a backlog of applicants for teacher licenses and competition for the few vacancies open next school year as districts make budget cuts. Applications are piling up in the Colorado Department of Education offices, where workers are sorting through two to three buckets of mail every day from people seeking educator licenses. More than 1,000 people have applied for substitute authorization in the last 10 months — a 51 percent increase since June. Also, about 900 people who don't have teaching backgrounds applied in 2008 to enter an alternative-teacher- preparation program to receive their licenses — a 13 percent increase over 2007