Teacher Candidates

* I can relate all too well to Kathleen Micham’s struggle to teach (letter, July 17). I contacted the LAUSD several times to tell them that I had an Ivy League English degree and plenty of enthusiasm. District representatives with whom I spoke sounded as though they were doing me a favor by providing me the most basic procedural information. And I found that the process--taking the CBEST, waiting for scores, submitting scores, waiting for approval and finally assignment to a school--requires patience and a bank account able to sustain an applicant through nearly half a year. Meanwhile, I have received offers elsewhere after hourlong interviews.

The district offers a far cry from the generous salaries of corporate America, but a warm welcome and a semblance of efficiency would go a long way in the eyes of many candidates. Many of the district’s strongest candidates probably never get past the initial inquiry and instead skulk back to law firms, dot-coms, investment banks and scores of other businesses that recruit the sort of bright, capable people that our schools require.

JOSH STEPHENS

Los Angeles

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Monday’s Times contained another letter with the underlying theme that all one needs to be successful as a teacher are the desire to teach and knowledge of one’s subject. There is much more to teaching. Necessary skills all too easily ignored include: classroom management (much more than just discipline), lesson-plan preparation (how much can a student learn in one sitting, how to review, how to make things interesting), curriculum issues, assessment strategies, reteaching, dealing with learning disabilities, dealing with gifted students, etc. Perhaps some people are born with these skills, but most are not. Desire and subject knowledge don’t automatically obviate the need for them. Teacher preparation, through college courses and mentoring, is necessary.

Ten years ago, at age 45, I had the desire to teach and I knew mathematics. Fortunately, I had enough sense to spend a year at UCLA earning a teaching credential. Without the knowledge of teaching as a profession and as a skill, I would have lasted no more than two weeks in a classroom.

WILLIAM H. JOSEPHS

Santa Monica