[Lou Waters, Cnn Anchor:] Some folks regard teaching as a calling, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. CNN's Maria Hinojosa talks with some new teachers who are learning the ins and outs of their new career.
[Maria Hinojosa, Cnn Correspondent:] It's well over an hour before students are expected, but math teacher Steven Brunnlehrman is already preparing. At Heritage High School in New York city, that means attending a morning session...
[Greg Hamilton, Teachers College, Columbia University:] How about June 26, 27?
[Hinojosa:] ... with a professor from a teachers college whose weekly visits help the staff stay on track, especially new teachers like Brunnlehrman.
[Hamilton:] Many new teachers haven't worked with kids before. When they hit the classroom all on their own, they feel very alone.
[Hinojosa:] But even so, they're generally happy, according to a new study. The nationwide survey contradicts the conventional wisdom that teaching is a career of last resort: 96 percent of new teachers surveyed said they love what they do.
[Unidentified Male:] This is the most important work in the world, so it's not surprising.
[Hinojosa:] But there are complaints.
[Susan Bartonlone, Principal, Heritage High School:] They come in with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, well-prepared, I would say, academically in their disciplines, but the most difficult element is discipline.
[Hinojosa:] The survey shows new teachers complained most not about low salaries, but about lack of classroom management preparation.
[Steve Farkas, Dir. Of Research, Public Agenda:] They would much prefer to spend more time in the field while they were in a teacher preparation program rather than in the classroom studying theory.
[Hinojosa:] This study says its findings challenge the stereotype that teachers aren't satisfied by what they do. In fact, only one-fifth of the new teachers surveyed said they plan on doing something else in the future.
[Farkas:] So rather than having a vision of teaching as a kind of unmotivated, uninterested, uninspired teaching corps, actually, we get the exact opposite.
[Hinojosa:] Teachers like 10-year veteran Ron Saltz, who says to teach was a calling.
[Ron Saltz, English Teacher:] It's an incredibly romantic profession. It's filled with their own experiences of teachers who inspired us, and we want to be that person.
[Hinojosa:] And Steven Brunnlehrman plans on being that well into the future.
[Steven Brunnlehrman, Teacher:] I want to get involved in writing math textbooks that are maybe set more for the urban school system. I'm really here to stay.
[Hinojosa:] Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.