The programme Georgia Responds involves teacher colleges at 15 public universities that have agreed to let prospective teachers enrol immediately and begin teaching with interim certification within a few months, while they continue working towards the required full degree. The targets are mid-career professionals laid off from industries such as high technology.

“This is a great way to get more people into the classroom in a hurry,” said Thomas Harrison, dean of the college of education at Columbus State University.

Georgia needs to find 20,000 teachers by 2010 and like other US states strapped for qualified teachers, it already has a programme that accelerates the typical teacher-training period of several years into three or four weeks, provided teachers complete the full course- work later. More than 4,000 applied for that programme this year, and 750 of those had received their interim certification in time to begin teaching school this past autumn.

Critics say the training is inadequate. Unions say the real problem is that so many teachers are leaving the profession because of low pay and poor working conditions.

Jon Marcus