WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, Demand for classroom teachers in the nation's urban schools has reached critical proportions, primarily in special education, mathematics and science, with shortages projected to continue through the next five years, according to a report released today.

  A study titled The Urban Teacher Challenge -- Teacher Demand and Supply in the Great City Schools  reveals that virtually all the nation's big-city school districts reported in a survey that they are in immediate need for math (95 percent), science (98 percent) and special education teachers (98 percent).  And not far behind, demand is also high for teachers in the areas of bilingual education (73 percent), English-as-a-Second Language (68 percent) and educational technology (68 percent).

  The study of 40 large urban school districts was conducted by Recruiting New Teachers (RNT), a non-profit organization working to build the nation's teacher workforce; the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of the nation's 57 largest urban public school systems; and the Council of the Great City Colleges of Education, which comprises schools of education serving those cities. 

  The three groups in 1994 joined forces to become the Urban Teacher Collaborative, aiming to improve the quality, diversity and cultural sensitivity of America's urban teacher workforce. This is the collaborative's second Urban Teacher Challenge study since 1996, with the latest report indicating even higher demands for teachers.  

  High demand can also be found for minority teachers.  Nearly three-quarters, or 73 percent, of responding urban school districts in the survey indicated that they have an immediate need for teachers of color. Minorities make up approximately 69 percent of student enrollment compared with only 36 percent of the teaching force, the study notes.

  "More than ever today, we need Americans to step up to the challenge of teaching all of our children," says Council Executive Director Michael Casserly, "Helping our children learn in the inner cities can present immeasurable rewards and satisfaction."

  Urban school systems have developed and exercised a variety of creative and innovative ways to recruit and retain teachers, including offering on-the-spot contracts to hire teachers and providing induction and support programs to keep talented new teachers in the classroom, the study shows.  Nearly all of the urban school districts surveyed recruit at historically African-American and Hispanic colleges.

  Urban districts also employ stopgap measures, such as hiring non-certified teachers and using long-term substitutes, to relieve classroom shortages, 

  On the supply side of the demand-supply equation, The Urban Teachers Challenge reveals problems at the nation's colleges of education -- the chief source for qualified teaching candidates.  Teacher education students "are still flocking to over-subscribed programs," the report stresses.  These are instructional areas, such as elementary education, social studies/history and early childhood, that have the most appeal to students pursuing teaching careers -- despite severe shortages in other disciplines. 

  The Council of the Great City Colleges of Education surveyed 45 colleges and found that students at more than half of them responding had low interest in pursuing a teaching career in mathematics (55.6 percent) and foreign languages (53.3 percent), while nearly half, or 44.4 percent, had low interest in becoming science teachers. 

   According to Council Chair Phil Rusche, dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Northridge, urban colleges of education have taken action to realign their programs to attract students to high-demand areas in urban education.  "Now the time has come to scale up these programs in a comprehensive way," he says.

  The 26-page report gives city school district-by-district data on teacher demand and recruitment strategies.  The districts are Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Broward County (Fort Lauderdale), Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus,

 Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Fort Worth, Fresno, Houston, Indianapolis, Jefferson County (Louisville), Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami-Dade, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Newark, Oakland, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Rochester, Sacramento, Saint Paul, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Toledo and Tucson.