During a two-year period from 2000-2002, California awarded a $20,000 Governor's Teaching Fellowship (GTF) to 1,169 people enrolled in traditional, post-baccalaureate teacher licensure programs who agreed to teach in low-performing public schools for four years after earning their licenses. The GTF was a policy response to longstanding evidence from within and outside California that low-income students and students of color are disproportionately taught by teachers with weak academic backgrounds and limited preparation. Given the need for rigorous research on incentives like the GTF, the authors undertook a study to estimate the fellowship's causal impact on recipients' decisions to teach in low-performing schools. The results are summarized in this policy brief. An Analysis to Eliminate Selection Bias is appended. (Contains 4 tables and 12 endnotes.)