JACKI LYDEN, host: As the school year begins, the National Education Association reported this past week that the number of male teachers in US schools has fallen to a 40-year low. Men account for just 20 percent of the nation's public schoolteachers, down from one-third in the '60s, '70s and '80s. We did track down one of that rare breed, the male teacher, in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he teaches English at Fair Park High School. His name is Walter Brown, and he joins me now. Welcome, Mr. Brown.

Mr.WALTER BROWN (English Teacher, Fair Park High School): Thank you, Ms. Lyden.

LYDEN: How'd you get into teaching?

Mr. BROWN: My mother and father were both teachers in Tashetta(ph), Louisiana, a little small town, and I always admired the way that my classmates, especially my young male classmates, looked up to my father. They would come around quite a bit--most of them came from single-parent homes, and they would come around quite a bit and just basically sit at his feet, listen to his stories, and they would come to supposedly visit me, but they would actually spend more time talking with my dad and seeking out his advice. And I asked one of them, 'Well, why do you guys come over to see me but spend time with my dad?' and they're, like, 'Well, you know, Mr. Brown was our teacher, and it's just--we feel like we can talk to him about things.' And it just really impressed me.

LYDEN: So what is your reaction to the decline of male teachers in the profession?

Mr. BROWN: It's pretty disturbing. In English, which is my subject area, there's only two English teachers out of 12--male English teachers out of 12 at Fair Park, and I know the students--I've had several male students who like to write poetry. They may not express that so much with their friends, but seeing another male English teacher, it seems OK to be a guy who likes to write poetry and read. And I feel that I have some impact on that.

LYDEN: Why do you think that male teachers are leaving the profession?

Mr. BROWN: Probably the number one thing would be pay. I think that men feel that, 'Well, this is not a job that I can really take of my family.' Of course, that's in the classroom teaching. Now once you get into the administration, which most men tend to do, who wants to get into administration, the pay scale jumps dramatically.

LYDEN: Do you meet people who used to be teachers but now they're doing something else?

Mr. BROWN: Yes. As a a matter of fact, the gentleman who was putting in my pool yesterday for my birthday, he and I were talking. Turns out he was a teacher from my old hometown, Tashetta, and I asked him, 'Well, why did you change?' and he just point-blank said, 'Pay.' He installs pools and does contract work, and gets paid way more than he did as a teacher, far better pay. But he said he used to do the pools part-time, but when--he said he just realized, 'I get paid much more to do pools. During that time I'm in class, I'm losing money.'

LYDEN: I'm told, Mr. Brown, that you yourself are considering switching from teaching to school administration.

Mr. BROWN: That's something I've wrestled with long and hard. As I said, I still have the image in my mind of my parents, of my dad especially. I remember his funeral, it was just--the church was just packed, and there were so many people who had so many wonderful things to say about him. Even to this day, five years later, I still meet people who have such love and respect for him. But I probably would like to move into administration as an assistant principal of instruction or some sort of supervisory position, and I really have to do a lot of soul-searching.

LYDEN: Walter Brown, teacher at Fair Park High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.

Mr. BROWN: Thank you, ma'am.

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