This initiative gets an A+ from NCTQ. IBM recently announced that it will help veteran employees--and not just retirees or pink-slipped folks!--prepare for a new career teaching math and science.

Employees with math and science backgrounds who have been with the company for at least ten years will be eligible for tuition reimbursement and a student teaching stipend worth up to $15,000 total. Participants will remain employed full-time at IBM while taking education coursework and then take a leave of absence while student teaching.

The pilot phase will have a limit of 100 employees, but the company hopes to expand the program over the next few years. What's more, IBM is issuing a challenge to 100 other corporations to encourage 100 employees to make a similar move. The resulting 10,000 math and science teachers could make a notable dent in the nationwide math and science teacher shortage.