








Morales] isn't the only professional in town who chose an unfulfilling career. More than 1,000 professionals in the New Orleans metropolitan area are looking into trading in their briefcases for book bags this year. People with degrees in law, business and medicine are ready to take on the challenges of teaching high-risk middle school students, for instance, for salaries as low as $26,000 their first year. The applicants are vying for 100 slots in the Teach Greater New Orleans program at the University of New Orleans, a project that takes people from other professions, gives them a crash summer school course and feeds them into the area public school systems this fall. The university is partnering with the New Teacher Project, a national nonprofit organization that works with schools in recruiting and training new teachers. The New Teacher Project is partnering with the state Board of Regents in recruiting for the Practitioner Teacher Program at UNO, Nicholls State and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Each university program has its own name such as Teach Greater New Orleans at UNO. Jim Meza, dean of the UNO College of Education, said nationwide, about 50% of teachers in urban areas leave the profession in the first three years. Teach Greater New Orleans not only requires a three-year commitment, but they match the teachers with mentor teachers and university cohort leaders for support, Meza said.
