The "Teacher Shortage Crisis" Fallacy

I am currently doing research on the "teacher shortage crisis" fallacy in my own part of the nation, but as I impatiently await correspondence from districts, I have to write something, as this issue is really in my mind right now. Therefore, through some internet research, I decided to write down the facts of this ahem "teacher shortage crisis" from what any layman can find by "googling". Therefore, a disclaimer is, that this will not be a polished blog article but merely just a bunch of facts and details, with citations, to not-so-professionally uncover this fallacy. And ignore my sloppy cut and paste annoyances of formatting. My "local edition" article I plan to write will have correct formatting.

Here goes, with the appoximate # applicants per position, and location by state. All articles are less than a year old.

1. 100+, Florida. "For example, one elementary school position was posted on June 3, said spokeswoman Jackie Johnson. By June 6, more than 100 external applications were received.

And that's typical, Lyons said."

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110703/articles/110709909

2. 100+, Michigan.

"For example, Chippewa Valley School District accepted 2,211 applications for 21 potential jobs it recently posted, according to Diane Blain, the district’s spokeswoman."

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/15541

3. 100+ Massachusetts "very few teachers have reported they voluntarily left the Lexington schools due

to working conditions. For most classroom positions, we receive more than 100 applicants per job. " lps.lexingtonma.org/Current/OS08June11Morale.doc

4. 1,000+ Illinois, (not a citation I would use in a paper as it is hearsay and not a published news article...) In Illinois, there are at least 1000 applicants per job. So I found a great way to make myself stand out. http://elementarytechteachers.ning.com/forum/topics/alabama-teaching-jobs?commentId=2067663%3AComment%3A59086&xg_source=activity

So.....where IS this "teacher shortage"? Sure, these numbers are vague and could be for elementary regular ed positions, of which qualified applicants are a dime a dozen. Perhaps there IS a shortage in math, science, and special ed. This is what I'm trying to get my own local numbers and facts on, because I believe that those jobs are tough to "get" as well. More on that once I get more than two districts' worth of research.