This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Experts say the United States will need more than two million newteachers in the next ten years. More than one million public schoolteachers are close to retirement. So schools will have to do more toget people to become teachers.

The National Education Association says the shortage of teachersfrom racial and ethnic minorities is especially great. The N.E.A. isthe largest teachers union in the country.

The government last counted teachers in two thousand. It foundthat eighty-four percent were white, compared to sixty-one percentof students.

African Americans were about seventeen percent of the children inpublic schools. This was true of less than eight percent of theteachers. And Hispanics represented about sixteen percent of thestudents but less than six percent of the teachers.

There has been some change in these numbers. In all, sixteenpercent of teachers are minorities. But this is true of twenty-onepercent of new teachers.

Many people, however, say they do not enter teaching because itgets less respect than other professions. Only about ten percent ofteachers in the lower grades are male, compared to nearly fiftypercent in the upper grades. Also, demand for minority collegegraduates means these job seekers can often get other work that paysmore.

Teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree. In some areas,they must earn a master's degree within a few years to keep theirjobs. But keeping new teachers can be difficult. About twentypercent leave the profession within three years. In cities, close tofifty percent leave in the first five years.

Teachers say they are not paid enough for all of the duties andresponsibilities they have. Many take work home with them during theschool year and vacations. Many also take classes to increase theirknowledge and skills. And many say they do not get enough help frommore experienced teachers or support from school officials.

The N.E.A. says teachers spend an average of more than fourhundred dollars of their own money each year on classroom materials.Some do it because they want to; others might have little choice.Yet the union reported a year ago that a majority of teachers saidthey would return to the profession if they had it all to do again.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by NancySteinbach. This is Gwen Outen.