For more than a century, America's colleges and universities have had a franchise on educating the nation's teachers. That franchise has been important to them, not only financially but also as one of the oldest and most visible demonstrations of higher education's commitment to serve the public good. Indeed, when governors are asked what they want public colleges and universities to contribute to their states, teacher education is generally at or near the top of the list. In this article, the author contends that this franchise is eroding as states deregulate requirements for becoming a teacher and non-university providers of teacher education mushroom. It is suggested that colleges need to rise to the challenge of becoming leaders in a national campaign for effective teachers by strengthening their programs to produce such teachers, supporting further high-quality professional development experiences, adopting an information-age definition of teacher efficacy, and engaging in rigorous assessment that includes the performance of the students their graduates teach. (Contains 3 tables.)