How the hell would I know? I'm old and long retired, and have little knowledge of current trends and marketplaces for graduates with degrees in education. I can only speak from my own similar experiences from long, long ago. Although I wasn't a student as far back as Lincoln's log cabin school, my college education was during that exiting post-World War II era of the GI Bill.

The GI Bill was a wonderful gift from Uncle Sam to the Greatest Generation for our dodging German and Japanese bullets. It was a free four-year college education, along with 75 bucks a month for living expenses, more for married ex-GIs. My own route was graphic art, and I enrolled in one of the best schools in the country.

As I finished my soph year and was considering what I would do with my life, I talked with other students who were taking double majors ... art and teaching. The cliche put-down was: if you can't do it, teach it. So, without certifying as a teacher, I finished up my BFA degree and went out into the cruel, cruel world.

I was successful in getting a series of nice jobs, but I always had in the back of my mind that maybe ... just maybe ... I should have done the double major and, as the other cliche says, I'd always have a teaching job to fall back on.

About 15 years later, I did need extra education in something similar to the teacher major. I was hired for a temporary faculty position at a state college, and my permanent appointment would only happen if I earned a master's degree. It wasn't easy, but by combining work and study for three years, I did it.

So, for what it is worth to a young person in college today who is pondering the question, my advice is to go ahead and enroll for the teaching major, or at least do the double major. Or, if you have the time or enough of your parents' money available, go for the master's. As my sainted grandmother used to say: It couldn't hurt, and maybe it could help.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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