The New Public-Private Partnership in Education

Education is Chicago’s number one priority, and strengthening the ranks of teachers is critical to provide every Chicago student with a quality education. Nationally, the United States is facing an education crisis in primary and secondary math and science; the U.S. Department of Education reports that the country needs 260,000 secondary math and science teachers by 2009. New approaches in public-private cooperation are necessary to solve important community needs, education being the foremost.

One effective solution is to encourage more private sector employees with degrees in critical-shortage areas to pursue a second career as K-12 teachers. The first of the baby boomers will turn 65 in the year 2011. Research tells us that this generation wants to and in many cases needs to work longer, and many of them are seeking jobs that they consider more fulfilling. Building a cadre of well-trained math and science teachers with experience and know-how can help develop the next generation of America’s technology leaders. IBM has long been a leader in school reform and other educational efforts and this latest effort is an outgrowth of that work.

IBM’s Transition to Teaching program http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/news/transition_to_teaching.shtml
is an innovative initiative underway in Chicago to help address critical teacher shortages in math and science. IBM is helping highly experienced employees become credentialed K-12 math and science teachers with support ranging from access to online and traditional coursework, to financial assistance and time off for student teaching. IBM focusing on math and science teachers for two reasons; first, there is a chronic shortage of math and science teachers, particularly at the primary level, throughout the city. It has always been difficult for schools to compete with the private sector and universities for college students majoring in math and science. Furthermore, as interest in math and science as fields of study has declined nationally, the teacher shortage in these areas has been exacerbated. Secondly, it is a perfect fit for IBM employees, a large proportion of whom are extremely math and science savvy and ready to make a contribution; this is their personal interest and thousands of IBM employees already volunteer each year to go into schools and lead children through hands-on science and engineering activities to excite their interest and help them to excel.

Links

US Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/learn/nclbsummit/melley.html

New York Times
I.B.M. Unveils Plan to Train Employees to Be Teachers
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/17/education/17school.html

Teacher Leaders Network
http://www.teacherleaders.org/teachersupport/ibm.htm