Career Trends: Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers

Kindergarten and elementary school teachers prepare younger students for future schooling by teaching them basic subjects such as math and reading.

Kindergarten and elementary school teachers work in public and private schools. They generally work school hours when students are present and use nights and weekends to prepare lessons and grade papers. Most kindergarten and elementary school teachers do not work during the summer.

Kindergarten and elementary school teachers must have at least a bachelor’s degree. In addition, public school teachers must have a state-issued certification or license.

Employment of kindergarten and elementary school teachers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Growth is expected because of projected increases in student enrollment. However, employment growth will vary by region.

This occupation supported 1,519,700 jobs in 2012 and 1,517,400 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 0.2%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 12.4% in 2022 to 1,708,199 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 1,557,400, compared with an observed value of 1,517,400, 2.6% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 5.8% in 2024 to 1,605,200 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 1,745,900 jobs for 2024, 8.8% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.