Teaching at the Precipice

Strengthening Teacher Retention and Recruitment for the Long Haul

By Arthur E. Levine & David Haselkorn

With nearly half of all new teachers leaving their classrooms within five years and as many as a third of the nation’s teaching force readying for retirement, some education and political leaders seem to believe that education can solve its human-resource challenge by becoming more like the military: sign individuals up for short-term enlistments, prepare them in intensive boot-camp experiences, and then send them to the front lines.

As with the armed forces (or even higher education), the answer, these leaders propose, is to supply sufficient teachers by supplementing a small, permanent staff with a large corps of short-timers.

The situation reminds us of the Yiddish tale of the...