Unless Texas soon finds a way to pay talented individuals comparable salaries to teach science and mathematics, Texas children will be at a terrible disadvantage in a workplace that increasingly demands advanced technical skills. New teachers don't last. In fact a huge proportion of new teachers do not last their first year. More than 40 percent of new teachers hired in Texas in 1995 had left by 1999. However, the probability of new teachers continuing depends on they way they are prepared to enter the profession.
Many programs try to prepare new teachers in a very short time, often less than a year.
In one study, only 43 percent of teachers prepared in this way were still teaching three years after they started. UTeach supports its graduates, helping them obtain suitable positions, and providing a source where they can turn for advice during the first difficult years. We experiment both with electronic and traditional means of providing this support. Indeed, UTeach should be a place its graduates can return throughout their careers, to learn about advances in their fields, and renew connections with the excitement of creating knowledge. In the face of many uncertainties, the enthusiasm and idealism of the UTeach students themselves has been the program's greatest strength.