Many Teachers Have Limited Experience

MSNBC (9/27, Omer) reports that according to statistics, the number of "new teachers" in the US workforce has "increased dramatically over the past two decades. In 1987-'88, the most common level of experience among the nation's 3 million K-12 public school teachers was 14 years in the classroom. By 2007-'08, students were most likely to encounter a teacher with just one or two years of experience." The piece cites such factors as the retirement of many baby boomer teachers, a decreased appeal to the profession from NBLB and other programs, and low pay.