Colleges Seeking Teacher-Educators

By Julie Blair

George Mason University is the kind of place that is easy to sell to prospective professors.

Salaries are competitive with those of other large schools, and the university's location—in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of the nation's capital—is ideal for academics interested in partnering with the federal government or with researchers who work in the nearby science and technology corridors. Many of George Mason's programs are not only thriving but are considered innovative, including its school of education, which was ranked among the nation's top 50 this year by U.S. News & World Report .

But Martin E. Ford, the acting dean of the education school, is having a hard time hiring qualified educators to train future K-12 teachers. He's got 10 vacancies to fill this year and, so far, fewer than...