Where Have All The Teachers Gone?

A new report is predicting record enrollment this year at primary and secondary schools in the United States.

At the same time, a severe shortage of teachers is threatening to lessen the quality of their education.

It's a problem of crisis proportions - one that's demanding some tough solutions, as CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg reports.

Fifty-three million children - an all-time high - will pour through the doors of America's schools, private and public, this fall.

And it's a growth trend that will probably continue. In the past, demographic changes came in fits and starts. But not this time.

"In the new century, it's going to be up, then further up," says Richard Riley, U.S. secretary of education. "You're not going to have the breaks where you're up and down."

That's because the new crop of students are descendants of the baby boomers - an unusually large group - and of children whose parents have brought them here from foreign countries.

Statistical studies show the enrollments going up almost everywhere, but especially in the West and South.

For administrators like Daniel Domenech, in the Fairfax County school system, it means having to make do with temporary measures like using mobile homes for classrooms.

"We can't accommodate our students at the rate that we're growing, so we have trailers in just about every one of our schools," he says.

Officials predict that the current school population, including college, will double to 94 million by the end of this century.

That will mean more schools and many more teachers - an area where the country was already facing shortages even before these enrollment increases became well understood.

Robert Chase, president of the National Education Association of Washington, explained some reasons for the teacher shortage: "We have not only a problem in recruiting new teachers, but also keeping people in the teaching profession," he said.

Chase rattled off some statistics: About 50 percent of those in urban areas leave after five years and about 20 percent or 30 percent of those in rural and suburban areas depart after roughly the same time period.

Retention issues need to be addressed, he said, citing the need for quality mentoring programs. "Teaching is one of the few professions where someone who comes into the job the very first day is expected to do the very same thing that someone who has been there for 25 years and to do it as well."

He also raised the salary factor: "There's no question about the fact that people who are coming out of school right now have the opportunity to get much more money in different kinds of professions."

The United States presents contrasts: In Connecticut, for example, it's very tough to be a teacher; there are rigorous programs to go through to become one, Chase said. "At the same time people are being paid the best salaries in the country and being given mentorig," Chase added. "In Connecticut, we're seeing people stay in the profession and much less of a shortage than in other places."

On the other hand, the state of Texas this year needed 40,000 new teachers, he noted. It had about 16,000 people apply, which leaves an enormous gap. "Last year alone, in that state, there were about 10,000 people who were long-term subs who were given almost permanent positions," Chase said, adding that some of these people, almost half, had less than two years of college.

Should we look abroad to fill the shortage? "It's certainly an area where we should do some investigation," Chase said, advising caution: "One, to make sure that those who are coming in do have the appropriate kind of preparation. And, secondly, to make sure that if they are coming and teaching in America's schools, that they get the kind of help they need."

Some predict that over the next decade school districts will have to hire about 2.2 million new teachers. If enough people cannot be found, "What we'll be doing is employing people who are not qualified to teach," Chase said. "And if, in fact, that is what happens, then the quality of our education...will decline. And all of us are working much too hard to make sure that that doesn't happen."

"Fifty percent of the positive impact of an education on a child's life is directly related to the quality of a teacher who teaches that child," Chase asserted.