It’s high season in the teacher recruitment biz. Here’s the rundown:
California: The Governator is refusing to roll over in his quest to push through some kind of reform, any kind of reform, addressing teacher quality. Apparently unfazed by his previous unsuccessful forays into pension reform and “combat pay,” Schwarzenegger has unveiled a proposal to shorten the time that aspiring math and science teachers would have to spend in training from five years to four. (To a degree not found in any other state, California has embraced the 1986 recommendations of the Holmes Group, a group of progressive college of education deans who called for a standard five-year training program for teachers.) The proposal would also offer $19,000 in loan forgiveness for these teachers and best of all, offer them a paid yearlong teaching internship upon graduation before making them take the reins in the classroom.
Schwarzenegger thinks he’s got the necessary ammo to get this initiative passed, given California students’ dismal achievement on math and science tests (California’s eighth graders had the lowest science test scores in the country and seventh-lowest in math, according to a 2004 National Science Foundation study). As for whether the plan will succeed in doubling the state’s numbers of math and science teachers, as Schwarzenegger claims, we remain respectfully skeptical. Without compensation reform, the state will be hard pressed to keep these carefully trained teachers from heading on to higher-paying grounds after only a few years of teaching. We should note, however, that the program has gotten major support from corporations like Intel and SBC, which will be offering “profitable and meaningful” summer jobs to teachers in the program.
Florida: The Sunshine State’s imminent teacher shortage is turning out to be a boon to its community colleges, which are quickly gaining a foothold in the lucrative teacher prep business. Twenty-four of the state’s community colleges have been given tentative approval to develop “educator preparation institutes,” allowing college graduates with content expertise to prepare for teaching by completing one year of intensive coursework. The institutes will be competing for a share of $5 million in state department of education funds.
The new program aims to produce 6,000 teachers a year within five years. However, that’ll only cover some of the 200,000 new teachers that Florida is slated to need in the next decade, due in large part to its mandatory class-size amendment.