Severe teacher shortages are expected over the next 10 years, mainly because of widespread teacher retirements, swelling school enrollments and the trend toward smaller classes. Education experts and policy-makers are bitterly divided over how to offset the shortages, which will primarily affect inner-city and rural schools and hard-to-staff subjects such as math and science. Most of the states now permit “fast-track” certification programs that can turn out teachers in as little as four weeks. And some districts issue emergency teaching certificates to people with little or no teaching experience. But critics fear that alternative-certification initiatives are lowering teacher-quality standards. They say that raising salaries and giving teachers the professional recognition and support they deserve is the only way to reduce shortages while maintaining quality.

Brian Hansen, a freelance writer in Boulder, Colo., specializes in educational and environmental issues. He previously was a staff writer for The Researcher and a reporter for the Colorado Daily in Boulder and Environment News Service in Washington. His awards include the Scripps Howard Foundation award for public service reporting and the Education Writers Association award for investigative reporting. He holds a B.A. in political science and an M.A. in education from the University of Colorado.