As school district administrators, the authors have observed that too many beginning teachers struggle in their first few years. Questioning the quality of the university teacher preparation programs that supply a majority of their district's teachers, they decided to ask the new teachers themselves how well prepared they felt. A focus group with new teachers and another with their mentor teachers revealed many gaps in university preparation programs. For example, new teachers stated that they weren't prepared to teach content, to manage classrooms, or to plan for differentiation. The authors conclude that, because teaching has become a more demanding profession than ever, universities and K-12 schools need to join forces to transform teacher preparation.