Is the Reserve Pool a Realistic Source of Supply?

An adequate supply of qualified teachers is central to improving education. Supply and demand projections indicate that teacher shortages will be concentrated in certain subject and geographic areas. The shortages may undermine recent educational improvements. If substantial changes in pupil/teach­er ratios and teacher certification requirements, such as those evaluated in this report, are seriously contemplated, strong incentives will be necessary to recruit enough qualified teach­ers.

If class sizes and teacher certification requirements remain unchanged, an average annual shortfall of between 4,000 and 7,000 teachers will occur over the next five years. The shortfall will be concentrated in the high demand areas of bilingual education and secondary math and science, as well as in geographic areas where large enrollments are increasing more than 20 percent in the ten year period.

This article was originally published in Teacher Education Quarterly by California Council on the Education of Teachers and Journal Storage (JSTOR).