Washington needs top teachers!

Educators and administrators across the nation have long debated how to attract top students into careers in teaching, and a new fellowship affiliated with our own University of Washington might just be the ticket.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation at Princeton is in the process of creating the "Lenore Annenberg Teaching Fellowship" that will offer 33 individuals $30,000 stipends to attend graduate education programs at top schools like Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia and Washington’s UW.

“Research shows that providing excellent teachers is the single most important way to improve student achievement,” Arthur E. Levine, president of the foundation, told the New York Times. “But the quality of our teaching force today is not as strong as it needs to be, and our teacher preparation programs are too weak. We hope this program will produce significant improvement in both and provide models that the rest of the country will follow.”

So all you students out there, take heed! Applications will be available next year for enrollment in 2009. Stay tuned for more information on this great opportunity!