Teachers looking for jobs in the Kenosha area might find it challenging, although not as much as in other parts of the country. Poor economic conditions have caused school districts to cut budgets, meaning fewer instructors.

Teachers here have begun to feel the squeeze.

This year, Salem School cut 17 teaching positions and while the district does not have a hiring freeze, it is holding steady at 61 teachers, said Superintendent David Milz said Tuesday.

Increased costs, declining enrollment and revenue limits have forced districts in Wisconsin to look elsewhere for funding, namely through referendums. Earlier this spring, Salem was among the communities to reject a referendum that would allow it to spend $1.16 million more than its revenue limit.

“In our district because of the current state funding formula, we’ve laid off close to 25 people, including 17 teachers and the support staff. That’s our situation,” Milz said. “And when and if a position does open up its pretty competitive. The standards have increased for teachers to be accepted into the educational community. Everything from entry level to certification has become more stringent.”

Since this time last year, school systems, state education agencies, technical schools and colleges have cut 125,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Veterans and new teachers looking for jobs discovered a little less of a crunch in the Kenosha Unified School District, which hired 290 instructors and 10 educational assistants before the start of the 2009-10 academic year, according to Sheronda Glass, human resources executive director.

“We did hire 300 people this year for teaching positions and this is about typical for a school district our size,” she said.

While some school districts in the country experienced seven times the number of applicants for teaching jobs, Unified had 1,248 people apply for 300 instructional positions, she said.

Teacher hiring in Unified has remained fairly steady over the last several years, mainly because the district has experienced increased enrollment. Next year, however, the district has projected a decrease in enrollment, the first in 17 years.

“We historically for the last 5 to 6 years have been a growth district. But we aren’t immune to what’s happening,” she said. “We’re concerned at the state level with what funding we’re going to get.”

Scott Pierce, administrator at Central High School, said the job market has been competitive for teachers coming from small school districts that have scaled back teachers’ hours. Pierce said the high school had four openings before the school year began, including two for instructors in band and choir. More than 120 people applied for the latter two openings.

“We many, many applicants for both the band and the choral positions,” he said. “Many more than I ever expected.”

Pierce said young teachers just out of college are looking for work and seasoned veterans have also been taking advantage of secondary certification to apply for jobs that may not have been their first choice.

When Bristol School posted its job openings to fill teaching positions in 2nd and 5th grades, the response was overwhelming, according to Administrator Gale Ryzcek.

“We had tons of applicants,” he said. “We probably had 50 to 60 applicants for each,” he said. “There’s applications coming in every month for positions from people throwing feelers out there. We put them on file, but right now we have no openings.”

Professor Dennis Munk, chairman of Carthage College’s education department, said that more opportunities may be available for teachers who are willing to relocate to areas in the upper Midwest outside Wisconsin.

“In general, a high percentage of our graduates find jobs and certainly those who choose special education or math and science have more options as well as those who are willing to be flexible,” he said.

Francine Tompkins, interim chairwoman for the education department at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, agreed, adding that because the the university system is a “border institution” the opportunities open up for teaching candidates who are willing to travel.