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Bush Seeks New Math, Science Teachers / Plan Envisions 30,000 Baby Boomer Retirees As Part-Time Educators

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By GIL KLEIN

It doesn't take a NASA scientist to teach high school science - or does it?

President Bush sees 30,000 baby boomers - including, perhaps, NASA scientists - heading into the classroom in their early retirement years as part-time teachers.

In his State of the Union message, Bush also called for 70,000 teachers to take courses to teach advanced science and math courses, preferably in inner-city high schools.

With 100,000 new highly trained math and science teachers, the United States will be able to train a work force that will be prepared for the next generation of technical jobs, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said last week in explaining the president's proposals.

"Whether students are going to end up as auto mechanics or cancer researchers, we know that, ever increasingly, technical skills are critical to their success," she said.

The new-teachers plan is part of the $380 million that the administration will propose tomorrow to spend next year to improve math and science education.

Many teachers lack training

Now, Spellings said, too many people teaching science and math in middle and high schools do not have the academic training. Many schools are having trouble meeting the federal No Child Left Behind Act requirement that every math and science teacher be qualified.

And too many inner-city and rural schools are not offering the Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate programs that prepare students for college-level science and math.

About 35,000 teachers are qualified to teach the advanced courses, Spellings said. If the federal government can help train an additional 70,000 during the next five years, it will triple the number of qualified teachers. Those teachers would get incentives to teach in inner-city and rural schools that do not offer those classes.

"About 500,000 kids... have the capability to do more rigorous work, but it is not offered in many schools," Spellings said.

The administration also will propose incentives for "baby boomers who are alive and kicking and in good health, with a lot of expertise" to become part-time teachers, she said.

"Would I rather have a NASA scientist teaching my child science who has some kind of [teaching] instruction to make sure he or she can communicate," Spellings said, "or would I rather have a physical- education teacher trying to teach that subject to my child?"

Teacher groups leery

Many teacher organizations are leery of programs that rush people into the classroom without ensuring they have the needed temperament and teaching skills.

"I come from a town where NASA is a big presence," said Shilpa Reddy of the National Education Association, "and not every NASA scientist, including some of my relatives, is someone I would like to see in a classroom."

Some teacher organizations are leery of the president launching new education initiatives while some of his old ones are not getting the money to make them work.

"The need for math and science teachers is there," said Janet Bass of the American Federation of Teachers, "but you can't pay lip service to a need and then not do what it takes to make it come true."

Some educators warn that high-level science courses won't help the large number of high school students with reading problems. Literacy programs proposed by the administration last year went nowhere in Congress.

"You can't improve math and science results if kids can't read their textbooks," said Michael Carr of the National Association of Secondary Principals.

Gil Klein writes for the Washington bureau of Media General News Service. E-mail gklein@mediageneral.com.

ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO

Source: Richmond Times - Dispatch

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