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Interactions Access Reading, 4/e

Pamela Hartmann, Los Angeles Unified School District
James Mentel, Los Angeles Unified School District

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Ordering a Composition

Put the paragraphs of this problem/solution composition in the correct order. Write 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 on the lines.


1		According to the Board of Education, the city of New York had 8,000 vacancies at the beginning of the 2001 school year and anticipated that at least 6,000 teachers would be retiring or leaving in the next six months. Moreover, the large numbers of students entering the system each year makes the problem worse. Administrators consider this problem bigger than the budget problems they are facing.


2		The teacher shortage is worsening, and the local government is not taking steps to solve it. Until they pay teachers more money, teaching will not be respected, and the problem will not be solved.


3		In Switzerland, teaching is a very competitive profession, and teachers receive good salaries and excellent benefits. New York should try to create a similar atmosphere for its teachers. Teachers should earn more money; teacher training programs should be more competitive; and teachers should receive additional benefits such as bonuses, low-interest loans for housing, merit- and need-based tuition grants, professional development programs, and sabbaticals.


4		One important problem in New York is the lack of public school teachers. This teacher shortage has serious consequences for students and city schools.


5		The Board of Education provides some teachers with emergency certification in order to get more teachers, fast. This is not a good solution to the problem. Emergency certification brings inexperienced and sometimes uneducated teachers into the classroom. It also makes the profession of teaching have less value, as the attitude is "anyone can do it."

2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
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