The New York City Teaching Fellows program began in 2000 to fill teacher vacancies in some of the city's lowest performing schools. Of course, they will not all retire at the same time, but the system already needs more mathematics, science, and special education teachers. New York City's alternative certification program is one of several programs nationwide connected with the New Teacher Project. It is the consulting arm of the national Teach for America program. So far, two groups of non-education majors have participated in the New York City program, one last summer and one in January, putting about 290 people into classrooms.
City officials plan to continue expanding the program.
They hope to recruit 2,000 fellows for programs starting in May and June. Fellows include former lawyers, actors, and businesspeople as well as recent college graduates. To qualify for the program, participants must have earned a bachelor's degree with a grade-point average of at least 3.0. About 50 percent of the fellows in the first group were between the ages of 30 and 39. About 96 percent of the fellows in the first class passed the LAST and 88 percent passed the CST on the first try, Doyle states.