Teaching is a career that can be incredibly rewarding and terribly difficult at the same time. However, if you’ve done your research and you think that teaching is the career for you, now is statistically a prime time to become a certified teacher.

Teachers Needed

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, teaching jobs make up three of the top ten fastest growing fields for those who hold a bachelor’s degree or better. This increased need is due in part to a higher than normal number of teachers planning to retire within the next ten years.

Elementary teachers (teachers of kindergarten through about sixth grade) top the list with a projected increase of 223,000 new job openings between 2002 and 2012. Number four on the list is secondary teachers (middle school and high school teachers) with a projection of 180,000 new jobs. Next, number six is special education teachers (teachers who work with learning and/or physically disabled children) with a projected increase of 130,000 new job openings.

Furthermore, according to TeachersCount.org, areas most in demand within the education field include bilingual education, math, science (particularly physical), computer science, English as a second language and foreign languages.