Thousands of Troops to Teachers have discovered new and rewarding careers in teaching. Statistically, former troops have a very high retention rate as teachers. Skilled in science and mathematics, representing significant proportions of minority groups, and comprising a largely male component, they contribute valuable skills and life experience and fill critical needs in vital areas of our nation’s classrooms.

• More than 85% of TTT educators coming into teaching are male, compared to 26% in the overall teaching force.
• 33% of TTT teachers are from a minority group, compared to 10% of the current workforce.
• 32% of TTT teachers report they are teaching mathematics or science, compared to 24% of all teachers.
• 18% of TTT teachers, compared with 12% overall, are teaching special education.
• 24% of TTT teachers work in inner-city schools, compared to 16% overall.
• 68% of TTT teachers indicate a willingness to teach in a rural community, compared to 23% overall.

You should hire a prior long-serving military member making a mid-career change to teaching only if you seek these qualities:

• MATURITY. TTT participants have learned many lessons about human relations, stress management, priority setting, leadership and sacrifice that can only be gained through experience. Most TTT participants are in their early forties.  This maturity is available to the students for decades to come, while the cost to the district is equivalent to hiring a recent young college graduate.
• COMMITMENT. The retention of TTT participants far exceeds the average teacher. This longer retention is evidence of the commitment of TTT participants to the children, school and administration and the TTT participant’s decision to make teaching a professional career choice.
• DIVERSITY. When serving in the military you work in an extremely diverse community. Military members learn very quickly to be sensitive to other cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. Moreover, a “troop” learns very quickly that what really matters is whether a teammate can produce under pressure when needed and not that teammate’s race, ethnicity, religion, or beliefs.
• PROVEN TEAM MEMBER. All military experience demands that each individual work for the good of the team and not of the self.
• ALWAYS PREPARED FOR LESSONS. An axiom of military operations is that you must always be prepared and have a good plan prior to starting any evolution. TTT participants never enter a classroom unprepared and try to “wing it.”
• CARING TEACHER. In the military, a leader leads 24/7. The responsibility and caring for each individual “troop” are felt every day of the week. This same caring is evident in TTT participants and in the deep concern they feel for the children in their class.
• DEDICATION. No one serves a career in the military for the pay—no one really works just for a paycheck. There is not enough money in the world to pay someone to do what is sometimes asked of our service members. However, they do it willingly because of an intense level of dedication.  This same level is transferred to helping children.
• LOYALTY. Service members have operated in a large bureaucracy and know that only through loyalty to the process and their leaders will the right things get done. TTT members support principals and their authority.
• CREATIVE THINKER. Contrary to the misconceptions often portrayed in the media, a successful military career requires a service member to constantly be looking for a better way to do things. It is no accident that the military has always been on the leading edge of development in technology and personnel issues.
• UNMATCHED WORK ETHIC. The military has never been a 9 to 5 job. This strong work ethic that was developed to be successful in a military career has earned most TTT participants the reputation as the first to arrive and the last to leave at their schools.