THE ATTRACTION OF A LARGE POPULATION OF EXCELLENT CANDIDATES FOR THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING

WHEREAS, the most talented and highly achieving candidates are not entering the teaching profession in the numbers which the American Federation of Teachers would wish to see; and

WHEREAS, the economic opportunities available to teachers have not served as an encouragement to enter the profession; and

WHEREAS, recent changes in the status and opportunities for talented women and minorities have reduced the pool of candidates for the teaching profession:

RESOLVED, that the AFT encourages those responsible to:

• find the funds to establish scholarships for academically able students desirous of becoming teachers, and to develop loan forgiveness programs in which loans can be cancelled in return for teaching service;

• adopt standards that would require teacher candidates to show competence in critical reading and in oral and written expression before final admission to a teacher education program;

• develop informational programs describing teaching as a career, including such possibilities as courses on teaching in the secondary school system or the re-establishment of clubs such as the Future Teachers of America.