The answer, according to a new report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future , is yes. The nation needs an estimated 2 to 2.5 million new teachers between 1998 and 2008, averaging more than 200,000 annually. It cites a report by the American Association of Employment in Education that finds a surplus exists for elementary school teachers as well as teachers specializing in English, art, business education, health education, physical education, and social studies. Many school districts have a harder time finding enough mathematics, physical science, special education, and bilingual education teachers.
Shortages are greatest among districts in the South and West and in inner cities.
At the same time, some states have a large number of teacher education institutions and regularly produce more teachers than they can hire, while others have little infrastructure for preparing teachers and may not have developed aggressive recruitment strategies or reciprocity arrangements for accepting licenses awarded in other states. Finally, the report notes, nearly 30 percent of new teachers leave within five years. Teacher training requirements vary widely among the states. For example, to receive a high school teaching license in Louisiana, candidates need only six weeks of student teaching and don't need to minor in their field of teaching. Minnesota and Wisconsin, on the other hand, require at least a major in the field to be taught, a semester or more of student teaching, and extensive training in how to teach a range of learners, including those with special needs.