my name is alan edwards.ere's the man who is making this report, united states commissioner of education, lawrence jeter thick. >> you know, americans are used to doing things in a big way. we have some pretty huge enterprises in this country. and one of the biggest of them all involves children. i'm talking about the american school system. anything that big has problems. the two major problems of our educational system involve teachers and classrooms. i wish i could say, as i began my first report to you, that we had a qualified teacher in every classroom in our nation. i can't, though. it's a sad fact that we are short about 135,000 teachers. and the shortage is growing worse. why? i suppose the best way is to look at a teacher and find out one of the reasons. ♪ narrator: here's a gas station attendant. he works six hours a night, six nights a week. the difference between this gas station attendant and most others is that this one has a bachelors degree and a masters in education. he's a teacher at a high