Ala. Mentoring Program Dubbed A Success MONTGOMERY, AL (APR - Alabama Public Radio ) - Teachers and education officials are calling the state's new $3.9 million mentoring program a success.

Last school year was the first time all the state's new teachers were paired with mentors and there were more than 2,900 in the 2007-08 school year.

Officials say the program has helped convince first-year teachers to stay in the classroom and credit it with lowering Alabama's turnover rate for those teachers to 2 percent while the national rate is 10 percent.

But Gov. Bob Riley says a tight budget makes him unsure if it will be possible to expand the program to mentor teachers in their first two years instead of just the first year.

Riley met with eight teachers and their mentors for a round-table discussion Monday and they told him what works, what doesn't and ways the program can be improved.

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