NEW ORLEANS — It's a tenuous era for many professionals who have lost jobs in Louisiana's Oil Patch.

        What's left? Selling cars? Going back to college?

        School districts in Louisiana, hit hard by a nationwide teacher shortage, have another suggestion: How about teaching math or science?

        Nearly 50,000 jobs for engineers, biophysicists, geologists and other workers have vanished from Louisiana payrolls since the oil heydays in the early 1980s. In the same time, the number of qualified teachers in the state has similarly dried up.

        Louisiana's colleges turned out only 32 graduates in 1998 prepared to teach biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics, making oil professionals ideal candidates to take over for about 670 uncertified math and science teachers.

        “I really need people who have a world-view, a global perspective, who see the big picture, and people who understand the new economy and who know the power of knowledge,” said Clayton Wilcox, deputy superintendent of East Baton Rouge Parish schools.

        His district recently hired a search firm in hopes of attracting dozens of midlevel professionals wanting a career change.

        The firm plans to do for Baton Rouge what it did for New York City and Massachusetts schools: Show underprivileged schoolchildren in need of leadership.

        Mr. Wilcox wants to send this message: “Yeah, we're under-resourced, we do teach predominantly African-American children. That's what makes education cool. You can improve the lives of these children.”

        School officials acknowledge the tough part will be convincing professionals used to salaries two or three times what teachers earn to make the leap.

        But Mr. Wilcox thinks many professionals want to do something more worthwhile than make money.

        “We believe there's a market out there that we haven't touched — that's those midlevel professionals who want to affect change,” Mr. Wilcox said.

        In New York City, similar messages brought into the teaching fold business owners, defense lawyers and stock traders wanting a change in their lives.

        Oil industry officials say the same can happen in Louisiana.

        Denise O'Connor of Murphy Exploration and Production Co. said former oil professionals “can bring in their experiences from the corporate world, both good and bad. ... They can give students a lot of advice.”

        In the past, the gates to the teaching profession were locked to most professionals who were not trained in college on child psychology or how to draw up lesson plans. And many who wanted to teach were not willing to go back to school and take education courses for a year or two.

        Those barriers are being broken down throughout the country as states adopt rapid certification programs like one recently approved in Louisiana.

        These certificates allow experts to bypass education colleges and get credit for their years of experience. The Louisiana program requires an uncertified teacher to do nine hours of college courses and work in the classroom. After a year, the principal, a peer mentor and an evaluator decide if that person is ready to be certified.

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