Beginning teachers do not enter the classroom as finished products. Many school administrators say that new teachers are often exuberant and optimistic but ill-equipped for the classroom. There are some administrators who are openly exasperated with the low quality of teacher applicants who are available. A personnel director, after interviewing candidates for middle school math and science positions, confided that she was "weary of teachers who don't know their subjects well." Teachers, like other professionals, need time in which to hone their skills, but they seldom get the time they require. In fact, Charlotte Danielson, of ETS, and Thomas McGreal, of the University of Illinois, argue that teaching makes the same demands on novices as it does on experienced practitioners. Furthermore, the problem of teacher attrition and retention is widespread, as Susan Kardos discovered in a study of 486 new teachers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Over half the teaches reported receiving no assistance from mentors or other school personnel. Discouraged, many of the new teachers left to look for different work. In this article, the author discusses several solutions in solving the problems of teacher retention and the inexperience of new teachers. Several suggestions for supporting beginning teachers are also presented. Inevitably, school leaders need to provide time, opportunity, and resources for novice teachers in order for them to become proficient teachers--and they need to keep an eye on the process to make sure that it's working.