U.S. Schools Face Teacher Scarcity

The dearth of teachers in the nation, already alarming, will increase in the next year, the National Education Association reports. Despite an acute need of extra teachers, this year's graduating classes will supply 32,000 fewer teachers than last year. Only areas where high salaries are paid report no immediate shortage.

The shortage is most acute in elementary schools where 160,000 qualified teachers are needed to compensate for retirement losses, increased enrollment, and those whom educators call "woefully untrained." High schools are fairly well off at present, but as the "war babies" reach them in the next few years, they will inherit the problem of the elementary schools, the report said.

Enrollment in teacher training has tripled in the last 50 years, but the supply is still inadequate, according to the report. The public is demanding a better education for its children which has further complicated the shortage.