(U-WIRE) LONG BEACH, Calif. – While reading this sentence should not be a problem, counting the words in it might be.

This is why the California State University system has initiated a plan to double the math and science teachers graduating from the CSUs by year 2010 to try and reinvigorate future students with the fundamentals of a basic education.

The pipeline [of teachers] has sort of been drying up, Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, associate dean of graduate studies and research, said. We have to make teaching attractive for folks.

She admitted graduates should not go into teaching for lucrative paychecks, but those that choose the profession often do for the mom- and-apple-pie reason, feeling they have a responsibility and investment in society.

The Math and Science Teacher Initiative program is to provide a supportive and transparent pathway for students in an educational career path to take the necessary courses at the right time, Grenot-Scheyer said.

Instead of having to guess from semester to semester about which requisites must be met and which classes are transferable, through MSTI, students will be able to have long-term plans to graduate, she said.

I think people don’t really know what teachers do … if you really don’t have children yourself, Grenot-Scheyer said.

Understanding the responsibilities of an educator is an idea Cal State-Long Beach hopes to address to make the profession more attractive.

Though the system-wide goal is to double the math and science teachers in the next four years, CSULB has a smaller goal of a 50 percent increase in five years.

It’s probably not as ambitious as the other universities, Grenot-Scheyer said.

We want to do a good job with the students we have.

Another group of student educators have also found themselves unable to fill needed positions in special education.

Grenot-Scheyer thinks the required extra credential mixed with a lack of on-the-job learning opportunities have coalesced to make special education teaching an intimidating pathway.

Additionally, with the shortages of teachers, CSULB graduates entering the teaching profession will find many jobs available, Dan O’Connor, department chair of Liberal Studies, said.

He also said that teaching goes through cycles and has its ups and downs because of shifting demographics, but graduates should be able to find teaching jobs in the future.

Teaching is a noble profession, he said. There will always be jobs.

We continue to have our work cut out for us, she said.

However, with programs such as MSTI and collaborative efforts with the math and science departments on campus, she expressed optimism that CSULB will be able to meet its goal to have more math and science teachers for future students.Copyright ©2006 Daily Forty-Niner via CSTV U-Wire