IBM begins program to encourage teachers Employees nearing retirement can take up math and science

Taking a step toward halting the decline of America’s leadership in technology, IBM Corp. said Friday it will help veteran employees launch new careers teaching math and science.

IBM will provide employees with salaries and benefits while they take necessary courses to become teachers. It will also pay tuition costs up to $15,000.

The effort will begin in January with a pilot program in New York and North Carolina that will include up to 100 IBM employees. Plans are for the program to roll out nationwide in January 2007, said Stanley Litow, head of the IBM Foundation.

IBM is committed to helping the nation’s schools recruit qualified people to teach math and science, he said. "There’s a shortage of more than a quarter-million math and science teachers," he said. "We know there’s a crisis in U.S. classrooms."

Many IBM employees have expressed interest in moving to second careers in teaching rather than leaving the company for full retirement, Litow said. The company will help employees enroll in the classes they need to become teachers and will help connect them with student teaching posts.

For years, technology companies have warned that too few American students take science and math courses and that teaching of those subjects has fallen behind other countries.

By Jon Van
Tribune staff reporter

Full Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0509170212sep17,1,808050.story?coll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true