That 21 st century teaching workforce will be the vanguard who will shape the national workforce of 2020. The Congress has recognized the need to support the development of this teaching workforce as well as to help current teachers in a process of education and renewal. Most of us who have gone on to pursue study in science, mathematics or engineering fondly remember those teachers who inspired, challenged and encouraged us. They expected much from us and gave much to us. Most of my teachers in high school were actually prepared in the subjects that they taught us and, in those post Sputnik years, they had opportunities for summer study to extend and support their learning.
Teachers shape the future as they prepare our children.
They must manage to understand and incorporate an expanding content base. In addition we ask them to respond to the psychosocial and other needs of their students, manage classrooms with too many pupils and too few resources while teaching too many hours a day with no time for preparation, planning or learning, little respect and low salaries. Our local approaches to developing new teachers for the 21 st century has meant that we all face shortages, potentially resort to emergency credentialling of underprepared persons and to raiding the neighboring district. We need a massive mobilization to ensure the production and movement of highly qualified SMT teachers into our schools from a nationally available pool. Just as Ms. Goddard, Mr. Smoot and Mr. Burton gave me my mathematics and science base so too must we provide for our children and grandchildren the teachers who can guide, motivate and inspire learning.