Inside Report (1)

Where are all the teachers? Most experts have assumed that a glut in the teaching profession would continue for some time. Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers predict that more than 40,000 teachers will be laid off this year. Nonotheless, many school districts say the supply of new teachers is so slim -- in part because of all the scare talk -- that they are being forced like corporate recruiters to make out-of-state forays to find food candidates.

The problem: more disenchanted teachers leaving the field and fewer college students entering than predicted. At the University of Illinois, for example the number of students expected to graduate qualified to teach junior or senior high school English is down about 90 percent from 10 years ago.m