A critical and thought-provoking examination of the teaching profession, from academic preparation and training to opportunities for professional advancement.

Even if math teachers had degrees in mathematics and more physics teachers majored or minored in physics, how would that address behavioral problems, emotionally disturbed children, apathetic parents, and decaying school buildings? How would requiring teachers to have degrees in their content areas attract better-qualified teachers? In what ways would such degrees make teachers better qualified and suited for classrooms?

In this volume, education professor Dave Pushkin, a former high school and community college chemistry and physics teacher, probes beneath the surface of easy answers to determine what the problem with education really is. Tired of being stressed out and burned out doing things he was never trained to do, he examines everything from student teaching and certification to hiring and teaching outside one's own field.