The author praises Louis Gerstner and The Teaching Commission whose report, "Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action," emphasizes that much more needs to be done to improve teacher quality in public schools. However, the author notes several shortcomings in the report. The author notes that the report relied on faulty data and ignored promising developments, while overstating the claims of others. The report avoided more forthright discussion of the struggle to professionalize teaching, and the need for teachers' compensation, preparation, and licensing to reflect that teaching is not simple work, that almost any reasonable, smart person can do, and that it is not okay to recruit a revolving supply of inexperienced and under-prepared teachers for the nation's hardest-to-staff-schools. The report could have clarified how to overcome the political and technical roadblocks hindering the closing of the teaching quality gap. Without a sharper diagnosis of the problem and more open skepticism about proposed solutions, the Commission's work will be unable to meet the goals of ensuring a caring, competent, and qualified teacher for every child. (Contains 40 endnotes.)