Fueled by a diminishing economy, Teach For America and The New Teacher Project are both reporting a record number of applicants. The 35,000 applicants to TFA and 29,600 applicants to TNTP's Teaching Fellows programs represent over a 40 percent increase in applications for both organizations.

For TFA, that marks the second year in a row with significant jumps in application numbers, with the 2008 applicant pool 36 percent larger than in 2007. The last time the economy dipped, between 2001 and 2002, the applicant pool increased two-fold.

If the TFA trajectory continues through the end of hiring season, it will be the organization's most selective year, with an acceptance rate hovering around 10 percent. The applicant pool includes 11 percent of all Ivy League school seniors, many of whom will have had a harder time getting into TFA than they did their alma mater.

A recent Center for American Progress report by Robin Chait and Teach For America's Michele McLaughlin outlines how states can capitalize on this interest by supporting genuine alternative certification programs. The report echoes suggestions in the State Teacher Policy Yearbook 2007 and Alternative Certification Isn't Alternative: "minimize participant burden, ensure program quality and encourage innovation and growth."