HR 362, the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act

One of the fundamental recommendations of the NAS Gathering Storm report is that the U.S. government needs to subsidize, at taxpayer expense, the training of more (~10,000) math and science teachers at the high school level. I contend that increasing teacher retention, through improved working conditions, will go much farther towards increasing the quality of math and science education in the U.S.

However, the result of the Gathering Storm recommendations is that Congress (or the NAS) came up with HR 362 which was passed by the House, as discussed above.

See: HR 362, the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act, which funds S&E teacher training.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.362:

Below is an article I noticed in the LA Times that discusses a survey of teachers in the LA School District, perhaps not a representative school district, but the results of survey, and the article are interesting.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

"By some estimates, about $455 million per year is squandered in teacher training in California because of premature departures. Vastly improving teaching conditions probably would cost much more.

"We have a high-school dropout problem," Futernick said, "in large part because we have a teacher dropout problem."

I believe there are many other fundamental policy flaws in the NAS Gathering Storm report, but seeing this article reminded me of one of them.

Bob

Teachers dropping out too

A study blames working conditions. Higher pay isn't the answer, it says.

By Howard Blume, Times Staff Writer

April 27, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers27apr27,0,6989401.story?coll=la-home-headlines

As a mid-career professional with a doctorate in chemistry, Maurice Stephenson appeared made to order for the Los Angeles Unified School District, especially because he was eager to teach at a high-poverty campus in a system woefully short of qualified science teachers.

But the honeymoon ended abruptly after less than two years. Fed up with student insolence and administrative impotence, he stalked out of Manual Arts High School on March 12 and never went back.

Few teachers quit so dramatically, but leave they do. In California, teachers are departing the profession in alarming numbers — 22% in four years or fewer — but simply offering them more money won't solve the problem, according to a report released Thursday.

The real issue is working conditions, which are the flip side of a student's learning conditions, said Ken Futernick, who directs K-12 studies at the Center for Teacher Quality at Cal State Sacramento.

His study, which was based on a survey of nearly 2,000 California teachers, maps a growing crisis that fundamentally affects student learning.

The study also casts doubt on commonly pursued remedies both for the teacher shortage and student achievement in general.

Classroom interruptions, student discipline, increasing demands, insufficient supplies, overcrowding, unnecessary meetings, lack of support — all play a role in burning out teachers.

"They're not just driving teachers crazy; they're driving teachers out of the classrooms," Futernick said.

Stephenson is among the 35% of L.A. Unified teachers who quit within five years, according to school district data.

And as in most other cases, salary wasn't the primary factor.

In fact, L.A. Unified's data lists salary as the No. 9 reason why new hires leave. No. 1 is "moving." But also cited are "lack of support from administrator," "student discipline policy" and "unmotivated students."

See link above for the rest of the article