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During the past few months, I have had the opportunity to meet with other music teacher educators to discuss current issues of music teacher education. One perplexing issue is becoming a prominent concern throughout the country. The demand for music teachers is at an all-time high, while the number of students entering music teacher training programs is declining.
The demand for music teachers has steadily increased over the past few years as the teachers who were hired to teach the baby boomers have begun retiring. Public awareness of music's value to the development of children has increased with growing media coverage of such issues. For example, consider the positive publicity caused by the decision of Georgia's Governor Miller to provide music CDs to the parents of every newborn in the state. This may persuade school districts that had allowed music programs to be dropped from the curriculum to reinstate them. In addition, efforts by MENC and other organizations to promote music in the schools are also increasing the public demand for quality music programs. Such quality programs require quality teachers.
At the same time, our nation's economy has been performing at incredible levels. The jobless rate is the lowest that it has been in decades. The great demand for workers in many...