The projected need for 2 million new teachers within the next eight years has spawned a number of efforts to increase the teaching pool. With K-12 enrollments expected to mushroom well into the new century, and the current crop of teachers either retiring or leaving the teaching profession for other jobs, states and local school districts are scrambling to ensure a steady supply of high-quality teachers. For many of these school districts - especially those in urban areas, where it hurts the most - the teacher shortage has already arrived. And these shortages are intensified in selected fields, such as bilingual education and special education, and in subjects such as mathematics and science.