Presidents Point to Selves To Fix Teacher Ed.

By Bess Keller

College presidents must take the lead in upgrading teacher-preparation programs now or risk seeing the growing demand for teachers stymie efforts to improve K-12 schools, the nation's largest association of colleges and universities argues in a new report.

The report from the American Council on Education projects that, over the next decade, 2.5 million teachers will be needed to replace retiring educators, lower class sizes, and meet enrollment growth.

The temptation, even in the face of growing public demand for students with better skills, is to fill those spots with unqualified teachers, the ace warns. And yet, no other factor is as important to improving student achievement as a good...