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Show On Teacher Corps (Editor's note: Democratic Senators Sena-tors Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts Massa-chusetts have recently made similar proposals for the creation of a National Teachers Corps to work in depressed rural and urban school districts. Senator Kennedy suggested sug-gested a corps of 2,500 experienced experi-enced teachers either recently retired re-tired or currently on leave. Senator Nelson suggested a corps of 1,000 experienced teachers who would guide 5,000 Inexperienced teacher-trainees. teacher-trainees. Because Senator Nelson's proposal seems more geared to students nearing graduation. Collegiate Col-legiate Press Service has asked the Senator to prepare the following article on his National Teacher Corps proposal.) By SEN. GAYLORD NELSON The Administration's primary pri-mary and secondary education bill, now being considered in both houses of Congress, emphasizes em-phasizes in a most responsible way the problems of economically-depressed school districts. dis-tricts. But it has one glaring omission. It is short on provisions pro-visions dealing with recruitment recruit-ment and development of teachers. That is why I have proposed a bill to establish a National leacners Corps to recruit k young people" to K ft1 Nation's most depressed V districts. ed sctll THIS PROPOSAL is ainurf dramatizing the ideal of 2 tic service. It would J young men and women an? portunity to begin their li' ing careers in difficult 2' challenging s.tuations at ho!?. The opportunity would if. similar to teaching witk J Peace Corps abroad. The proposal is complemen tary to the basic legX proposed by the AdfiSj tion. The Teacher Corps X develop skilled and teachers at the same timel begins to meet the demandin educational problems of 2 most deprived schools. IT ALSO would help these young people to continue their education. The Teacher Cora teams would be in the class room only about three-fourths of the time. This would give them an opportunity to take part in universityponsored seminars and classes leading to a master's degree in teaching. The Peace Corns is an Bvt ordinary success overseas because be-cause of the practical idealism of America's young people. We should sue that same idealism on our most pressing domestic crisis education in our depressed de-pressed neighborhoods. THE TEACHER Corps is not an experimental idea. It has been demonstrated successfully in a two year test run at Car-dozo Car-dozo High School in a poor area of Washington, D.C. The in-school teacher-train-ing aspect has been operated successfully under the auspices of such major universities as Harvard, Yale, Wesleyan and Wisconsin. LIKE THE Cordozo "Project in Urban Teaching," the National Na-tional Teacher Corps would consist of both volunteers and experienced teachers. Volunteers would be rigorously rigor-ously screened. They would be trained intensively for three, months, then sent in small groups with an experienced teacher into school districts that requested them. They would serve for two years. UNDER THIS proposal, volunteers vol-unteers would be paid at the beginning salary level for a full-time teacher in the school system where they worked. Experienced teachers on the teams would be on the staff of the National Teachers Corps. In the schools both the volunteers vol-unteers and the experienced teachers would teach three-fourths three-fourths of a normal teaching load. The seminars in teaching methods ' and curriculum development de-velopment would occupy the rest of the time. WHEREVER possible, the Corps would operate in connection connec-tion with a university that would provide both training and advanced subject matter for the volunteers. In the Washington, D.C, Cardoza program a group o ten returned Peace Corps volunteers vol-unteers and two experienced teachers began the project in urban education more than a year ago. It is funded by the President's Committee on Juvenile Juv-enile Delinquency. THOSE WHO complete the Cardoza project earn a Master of Arts degree in teaching at Howard University. The demonstration has been praised by the volunteers, nearly near-ly all of whom plan to continue in teaching, by teachers at Car-dozo, Car-dozo, and by the school s ao-ministrators. ao-ministrators. This year the number of volunteers In the Cardozo program was increased to ! The bill would cost about million a year. Judging by W Cardozo experience, this wou finance a National Teachers Corps of" roughly 1,000 expen-. enced teachers and 5,000 vo-unteers. vo-unteers. . ONE OF the most signing collateral benefits of this program pro-gram is that it would attraw bright young people who rnign not otherwise go into teaching' The bill presents a soun tested, very badly needed pro gram. The volunteers, the experienced ex-perienced teachers, the scnoo -and the country all stand gain, I |