U.S. Faces Serious Teacher Lack, Keppel Claims at Career Seminar

The United States faces a serious national teacher shortage within the next ten or 20 years, Francis Keppel '38, Dean of the Faculty of Education, said last night at the first of this year's career conferences on education.

In 1970 there will be a five million increase over the present secondary school enrollment, Keppel estimated. "The birth rate has almost doubled since 1936, which calls for a corresponding increase in the number of teachers available," he said.

"The teacher shortage is really frightening," Robert L. Amsden, Principal of Columbia High School in Maplowood, N.J., and one of the four speakers at the meeting, stated. "Within the next five years there will be need of a half million more teachers," he added. Amsdon attributed this need to a "great increase in the post-war birth rate."

Falling to Educate Public

"There is a great lack of trained leadership in the educational field," said Amsdon, "Right now we are failing in our attempts to educate the public," he continued, "since 70 per cent of secondary school students do not continue their education to the college level."

Keppel saw no prospects of federal aid in the near future to meet the problem of increasing school enrollment. He attributed this to the dangers of running into church and state, and race controversies by granting federal aid to certain schools and not to others.

There will be seven more career conferences, extending through March 28, according to Louis L. Newby, Director of the Office of Student Placement, and manager of the program.