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1 Million Teachers Needed in Next 5 Years
Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial
As aging baby boomers retire from the classroom, there should be plenty of newly trained teachers coming up to replace them.
By 2014, the country’s 95,000 public schools will need to hire as many as a million teachers and principals. More than half will be trained at education colleges. But will they be prepared for the classroom? Probably not, shortchanging another generation of the high-quality education they deserve.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has sounded the alarm that more must be done to prepare future teachers, especially those sent to failing urban school systems such as those in Philadelphia and Camden.
Duncan is citing a 2006 report by former Columbia Teachers College President Arthur Levine that found that 61 percent of educators believe they were inadequately prepared for the classroom.
Duncan, who brought his message to Philadelphia in September, may have ruffled some feathers when he concluded that most of the nation’s 1,450 teachers colleges are doing a mediocre job, at best, of preparing future teachers.
But that frank assessment confirms what lackluster student performance on standardized tests has shown for years. Reforming public education and boosting student achievement must begin with better teacher training – mediocrity is unacceptable.
Nearly 30 percent of students nationwide, roughly 1.2 million, drop out or don’t complete high school in four years.
The statistics are even worse for minority students. Only about 60 percent of black and Latino students graduate on time in many urban districts, while more than half drop out.
gABRIELITA
17 days ago
2 comments
Hello
I would like to send you My resume to be considered to work as an English Teacher at the United States next year, I´ll try it by this comment. gavaru@yahoo.com
VistaNewark
17 days ago
4 comments
I so going to go into education. Have an interview with TeacherNex. You guys familar with them?
val
20 days ago
2 comments
I am currently writing my dissertation and conducting research on "Retaining New Teachers in Urban Districts." I am an elementary school principal in Trenton , NJ.
Do you have any information on jobs (or resources on how to find a job) involving working with new teachers or teacher training/sustaining programs?
history67
20 days ago
30 comments
My district is going to lay off 400 teachers, my state may lay off 5000, New England is looking like a bust for teaching jobs, as are many states. How much of this was factored into the article? Some jobs may be SAVED through attrition, but your numbers are not reflecting the realities. Do the college students reading this a favor, tell them the truth: teaching is no longer a stable career, the pay is well below private sector pay for the same educational levels and most importantly- You are owned by your school, you really don't have 3 months off, you really don't have 6 hour days. You WILL put in 12 hours a day and more if you are going to get a M.Ed. or higher, you will work evenings and weekends when your school has functions that need faculty present. Oh, and you will be laid off when times get tough, ( after all, you are only a part time worker).
melissagregory10
20 days ago
6 comments
how are the schools going to hire these million teachers with all of the budget cuts i live in a small town and we loose 1/2 a mill this year where bigger cities loose 5-10 mill what are the teachers going to be paid in
kimtaylor
20 days ago
252 comments
Sure - good teachers will make a difference but this program can't scale up. There simply aren't enough teachers available with these skills to make a difference.
Much more important would be (a) to reward merit among teachers we already have and (b) to allow charter schools greater flexibility about whem they hire.
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