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# Future teachers in Santa Monica celebrate a milestone
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/future-teachers-in-santa-monica-celebrate-a-milestone/
- Published: 2003-05-14T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:08:24.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Budget cuts and layoffs don’t deter the educators of tomorrow*

With budget cuts threatening their programs and lay-offs limiting their prospects, aspiring school teachers in Santa Monica have every reason to be glum.

But rather than let the state’s budget crisis get them down, a group of Santa Monica College students on Tuesday celebrated a milestone towards landing a job in their chosen profession.

About 60 people attended a luncheon on Tuesday commending SMC students who completed the Teacher and Reading Development Partnership program.

The program consists of one course, volunteer fieldwork in local elementary schools and counseling for future teachers. More than 1,100 students at SMC participated in the program this year, with 46 receiving a certificate of completion, said Joe Ryan, project manager of the department.

Ryan’s position, and the bulk of his department, are among the cuts the SMC board of trustees will consider cutting on Thursday in order to help plug a $13 million shortfall in state funding.

While the SMC students are anxious about their futures, they reiterated on Tuesday their commitment to teach.

Andres Espana, 23, said if things don’t work out in California he will consider returning to India, where he taught English for three months through a teach abroad program.

The bottom line, said Espana, is there will always be a need for teachers.

“You shoot yourself in the foot when you cut education,” he said. “But people become teachers because of more than money. It’s kind of an altruistic field.

“It got better and now it’s getting worse,” he added. “It’s not going to deter me. Education is needed everywhere. I’ll get a job.”

Other teachers-in-training aren’t so sure. They worry that the competition might be too stiff for them to land a job in their chosen profession and won’t be able to support themselves.

Erica Salinas, 19, said she is studying to teach pre-kindergarten or first grade. But because of the tough market for aspiring teachers, Salinas said she’s got a backup plan. If she doesn’t land a job as a school teacher within one year, she plans to study to become a registered nurse.

“I’ll have to go back and start all over again,” she said.

Tuesday’s luncheon was sponsored by the local chapter of the Retired Teacher’s Association and was held at the First United Methodist Church on 11th Street.

Marty Stiles, the 400-member association’s president-elect, said times are tougher now than when he started his 23-year tenure at Lincoln Middle School.

“It’s more severe now,” he said. “But at the beginning of the ’80s, the beginning of the ’90s, the beginning of 2000 — we have gone through recessions.

“We’re in this sort of bust or boom cycle,” he added. “It’s not helpful.”

Stiles said the association’s efforts at lobbying in Sacramento have been swallowed by the magnitude of the state’s fiscal crisis. The state is facing a $35 billion deficit this year and Gov. Gray Davis plans to cut more than $2 billion from public schools and community college budgets to fill the gap.

Stiles said local events and sponsorships have had a much more positive influence on teachers in Santa Monica.

Alicia Villalpando, a counselor for SMC’s Teacher and Reading Development Partnership program, said she tries to help students look beyond the current situation in California.

She added the recession will eventually fade. In the meantime, she is advising aspiring teachers to equip themselves with as broad a resume as possible.

Instead of going for the multiple-subject credential required of elementary teachers, Villalpando said she is telling students to pursue single-subject credentials, which allow them to teach in secondary schools, where teachers are in higher demand.

“I try to get them to see beyond the three, four or five years of bad times,” she said. “In any industry you’ll see a downturn.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)