Be careful what you ask for! Just about anyone could see this one coming. Cut school budgets and layoff teachers. Demand that teachers close the achievement gap. Tie evaluations to test scores. Threaten to fire teachers. Complain about teacher pay. Call schools failing. Then wonder why people don't want to be teachers.

School leaders and teachers face a new "perfect storm." The pressure to improve continues to rise and the resources continue to diminish.

According to a new report, "the number of Californians seeking to become teachers has plummeted by 45 percent over a seven year period – even as student enrollments are projected to rise by 230,000 over the next decade and as many as 100,000 teachers are expected to retire." Furthermore, "Teaching is clearly becoming a less and less desirable profession for Californians." While student populations continue to grow, the critics are going to get exactly what they asked for--more students and no new teachers.

I have said it all along. Our problem is not how to fire teachers, but rather how to recruit, train, and develop great teachers. This is confirmed by a report from the Center for Future of Teaching and Learning which warns about the brewing crisis:

"The disinvestment in building a top quality teacher workforce is at odds with rising demands for students' academic success. The fiscal crisis has so severely damaged the pipeline for recruiting and training new teachers that teaching quality may be put at risk for many years to come."

"Because of budget cuts, teachers are expected to do more with less, typically teaching in larger classes, with fewer counseling and other staff to help out with hard-to-teach children."

One expert put it bluntly, "Teachers are coping with lower compensation, fewer resources and increasing expectations of student achievement. "It is a reasonable expectation that a college sophomore or junior might think 'I might not even get a job, so perhaps I should look for another career."