Six two-way bilingual education school principals were interviewed for this research project conducted by professors from Florida International University in Miami, Florida. The subjects were asked to identify the most important qualifications that teacher candidates should possess in order to work effectively in their schools. They were also asked whether they had faced any difficulties at the time of hiring qualified candidates for positions in their programs. At the end of their interviews these principals were asked to offer suggestions to help improve university teacher preparation programs for pre-service teachers intent on teaching in bilingual programs. Literature in the field of bilingual education has specifically pointed to the importance of high quality teachers proficient in the minority language as one of the key indicators of program success (Castro-Feinberg, 1999). Teachers with a good command of the four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in the minority language constitute the most determinant factor in the effectiveness s of two-way programs because they raise the status of the language and help students develop higher levels of proficiency in it (Cloud, Genessee, & Hamayan, 2000). For these reasons, it was determined that the focus of interviews with bilingual school principals should be on the teachers working in their programs and those teacher candidates who applied for positions in their schools. The interviews were conducted in both Spanish and English, according to the preferences of the principals. All of these particular schools have these two languages in their two way programs, and they all follow a 60/40 model in which the majority language (English) occupies sixty percent of the instructional time in a day while the minority language (Spanish) occupies forty percent of time. Five of the schools used as research sites are elementary schools containing pre-kindergarten to fifth grade classes, and the sixth is a middle school containing sixth through eighth grade. The interviewed principals were able to identify several challenges in the maintenance and selection of teachers for their bilingual programs. In their responses, the principals pointed to teachers and teacher candidates' lack of academic vocabulary and cultural background in Spanish as their greatest weaknesses. They identified candidates' proficiency in Spanish, their theoretical preparation, commitment to the program, and flexibility to work with colleagues as their most desirable qualities. The bilingual school principals also had suggestions for university teacher education programs that prepare the future teachers in their schools. They suggested that these teacher education programs include a strong language component in both Spanish and English. They also suggested that there be a focus on the academic content areas that are taught in schools and that special methods courses be taught in the minority language. The idea of increasing student teacher fieldwork hours so that there were multiple opportunities for hands-on experiences within bilingual schools before pre-services teachers complete their degree training was also suggested. Finally, a stronger partnership between university teacher education programs and the bilingual schools that they serve emerged as an important area to develop for the mutual benefit of both types of institution.