ISLANDWIDE; Math, science teachers needed: report
BYLINE: BY BRANDON BAIN. brandon.bain@newsday.com
A new report released by business leaders and educators
highlights a call to arms to reverse a shortage in math and science teachers.
The report, released by the Business-Higher Education Forum, a consortium of leaders of Fortune 500 companies and higher education officials headquartered in Washington, provides a comprehensive plan to increase the quantity and the quality of math and science teachers nationwide.
"If we don't do this immediately, we're not going to have the science and math teachers we need to meet the current needs of the next generation," said Gerald Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association at a panel discussion yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington.
The plan focuses on recruitment and retention of teachers and their professional development. It calls for the federal government, colleges and universities and the business community to drive the effort to encourage more top-notch math and science teachers.
The report focuses on the need for teachers at the middle school and high school levels and projects a national shortfall of teachers of more than 280,000 by 2015. The report also notes that American students have become less interested in math and science and that transforming teaching methods is necessary to pique student interest in those fields and make students more competitive with their international counterparts.
One recommendation is to create a comprehensive package of incentives for math and science teachers, including scholarships, signing bonuses and increased pay.
The consortium's president, Brian Fitzgerald, said there is a need to strengthen teacher retention, adding that nearly a third of math and science teachers are leaving in their first three years of teaching. "There are not enough math and science teachers," Fitzgerald said. "We can't wait any longer."
Consortium officials noted that some teachers leave teaching altogether for related private industry jobs in engineering and science technology.