When education expert Mr. Shimon Waronker a former principal who has turned around some of New York’s most violent schools spoke at the Torah Umesorah workshop for school leaders this August he mentioned that once while cleaning up a school he fired seven teachers who weren’t up to par. “The quip that ran through the room was ‘Can you send them to us? We’re still looking ’ ” remembers Richard Altabe headmaster of Yeshivat Shaare Torah in Brooklyn. Obviously a joke but the sentiment behind it wasn’t; a large percentage of the 25 or so principals who were at the Best Leadership Practices seminar still had openings for secular studies positions in their schools. “They said they’d never gone so late in the summer without filling a position ” says Mr. Altabe. “This year was the worst year with job openings in yeshivos — ever. I could tell you some went unfilled until November-December.” The problem Mr. Altabe explains is twofold: First there is a critical shortage nationwide of male teachers for science math and history classes; and second there is a lack of appropriate educational matter for frum students because today’s reading material even in younger grades reflects problematic values. At last month’s New England Regional Convention of Torah Umesorah in Waterbury Connecticut Mr.Altabe presented aMotzaeiShabbos session about the hot-button topic. “The feedback was unbelievable ” he says. “Everyone is struggling with this issue.”