Schools across the country are struggling to find enough teachers, with at least 411,000 teaching positions currently open nationwide. At the same time, more than 40% of recent graduates are underemployed. That means millions of young people have earned college degrees only to find themselves stuck in jobs that offer low pay, little security, and no clear path forward.  

These are not separate challenges, and taken together, they point to a solution hiding in plain sight. Teaching can be the entry point into the workforce that Gen Z graduates need. 

Republicans and Democrats agree on astonishingly little these days, even in the world of education reform, which was once a bright spot for bipartisan collaboration. But they can find common ground around two basic points: students and families deserve great teachers, and recent college graduates need new career options to get a real foothold in the labor market. 

Don’t believe us? Check our byline again, and you’ll see a former Republican governor and a former Democratic secretary of education. We are writing this together because we believe that a national call to service in education is not a partisan idea.

Teacher shortages are already impacting classrooms nationwide. And schools in rural districts and lower-income communities are particularly struggling to fill vacancies. Research shows that persistent vacancies and reliance on substitute teachers undermine student learning and achievement. For students who overcome........

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