Like most districts, Boston public schools have contradictory needs when it comes to staffing classrooms. They're constrained by tight budgets, meaning that lay-offs are a remote-but-real possibility, but they also need to get more teachers in high needs subjects of math, science and special education. (For example, a Harvard study predicts that in three years' time, 60% of Boston s teachers will be classroom novices.)

So what's Boston doing? Part of their solution is a new, privately funded program that will give teacher candidates a $10,000 stipend and the chance to receive a $10,000 loan to help them earn a Master's degree. If the teacher teaches in Boston for three years, the loan is forgiven. The Boston program, sponsored by a foundation called Strategic Grant Partners, will begin with an inaugural class of 16 with the aim to grow to 120 candidates per year.