While I do agree with Allen Tingley ("Better teachers have real world experience first" Mon. Oct., 11) that teachers do not have to go straight from college to teaching, I disagree that teachers who do go straight from college to the classroom are not as well prepared to handle the "deadlines" and "regulations" of the real world. I graduated in 2002 from Penn State and have been teaching math for the past three years at a school district outside of Pittsburgh. I have deadlines every week I have to deal with as a teacher and seem to have adjusted just fine. Letters to parents, lesson plans and other items are due every Friday. Also, a large federal regulation, "No Child Left Behind," basically dictates a great deal of my lesson structure for the entire school year. Now, I do agree that experience outside of the classroom does make you more effective teacher. That is why I found positions during my collegiate experience that help me. These went from doing accounting for a golf course to being an resident assistant at the university. Teachers do not only have to have experience in their content areas, but also experience working with children in the age range where they plan to teach. These experiences can provide more than enough training for teachers to enter the classroom upon graduation from college.