A Perfect Storm

THOSE people who are entrusted with the economic and social future of the United States should be unnerved about what is happening--and not happening--in the essential areas of teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention. The nation's citizens, business leaders, and politicians have been warned repeatedly about an impending disaster, a "perfect storm" that is brewing, and yet their responses have been temperate and, at times, even dismissive. The facts related to this developing storm are many, and they are indisputable and profoundly troubling. Any realistic inventory would include the following: * America employs about 2.9 million teachers, and schools will have to hire at least two million new teachers in the coming decade in order to handle enrollment increases, teacher retirements, turnover, and career changes. * Nearly half of the new K-12 teachers will leave the profession within five years. * Teaching in America's K-12 schools is one of the nation's lowest-paid professions at the entry level, and it is common for teachers with five or 10 years of experience to earn less than recent graduates who have embarked on other careers. * In the country's middle schools, more than 20% of math teachers and more than 40% of physical science teachers are teaching "out of field" or without some necessary qualifications. * Inner-city communities and rural areas are experiencing the greatest challenges in recruiting high-quality teachers for their classrooms. * Certain countries (including China and India) that are principal threats to our economic supremacy accord teachers far greater respect, recognition, and encouragement than does the U.S. Yet economists agree that, if America is to be globally competitive in the coming years, we must retain an intellectual edge. Mindful of such sobering facts and of the fundamental importance of America's ability to continue to lead internationally, the College Board's Center for Innovative Thought, whose members include prominent academic, business, and political leaders, spent more than a year examining the matter of teacher supply and demand. Center members and a support staff of respected education professionals reviewed all of the major studies of the past decade, debated countless directions and possible options, and came up with a six-part plan, which is detailed in Teachers and the Uncertain American Future. (1) A number of specific recommendations buttress each of the six elements of what amounts to a "new compact" between America and its teachers. SALARIES FOR THE REAL WORLD Schools must pay teachers salaries for the real world. What that means is increasing salary expenditures for teachers by an average of 15% to 20% now--and by 50% within the foreseeable future. Our report calls for the creation of a "Teachers' Trust" that would fund a general salary increase for all teachers as well as targeted increases to support teachers in disciplines experiencing shortages, teachers in challenging schools, and teachers who are making exemplary contributions to the profession. This Teachers' Trust would hold funds from the federal government--perhaps raised through a tax on windfall profits--along with matching funds from state and local governments and even monies from the private sector. While creating the trust would clearly require legislation, it would be a historic reaffirmation of the importance of education to the U.S. It is naive and dangerous for America to think it can skimp on salaries and still attract the best young minds to teaching. A PREFERRED PROFESSION Teaching always ranks high when judged against other professions. A 1999 poll by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Public Relations Society of America Foundation found teachers' credibility among the public to be second only to that of Supreme Court justices. However, a recent Public Agenda survey, A Sense of Calling: Who Teaches and Why, showed that a majority of college graduates who do not enter teaching believe teachers do not feel adequately respected and appreciated. …