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HEADLINE: PEACE CORPS DAYS A PLUS FOR TEACHERS

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   LIKE all schools, New York City schools begin each year with administrative snafus and breakdowns - undelivered books, cracked petrie dishes, no chalk. These problems irk many teachers, but Ellen Blanker, a teacher at Eastern District High School in Brooklyn, is fairly unfazed.

''When you come back from Africa, you have a higher tolerance for inconveniences,'' said Miss Blanker, who taught for two years in Sierra Leone as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Miss Blanker is one of 29 former Peace Corps volunteers who have received fellowships to teach mathematics and science in New York public schools under a program established last year by Teachers College of Columbia University in cooperation with the Peace Corps.

''In the last few years, there's been a critical shortage of math and science teachers in public schools in the United States and in New York,'' said Henry L. Fernandez, who coordinates the program at Teachers College. ''This program is one of Teachers College's efforts to effectively deal with this shortage.''

The fellows, who are paid $20,000 yearly and live in college-subsidized housing, teach for two years while attending classes in pursuit of master's degrees in education at Teachers College.

Board of Education officials believe the fellows enrich their classrooms with their experiences from Africa, Asia and South America.

''They have seen life in the raw,'' said Gerald Brooks, deputy executive director of personnel for the Board of Education. Because the fellows have served in developing countries, ''They often come in with a greater understanding of, and empathy for, children who are poor, and their attitudes permeate the classroom,'' Mr. Brooks said.

Most of the fellows are white, and many of them said their adventures abroad made them more sensitive to needs of minorities.

''For the first time in my life I was a minority,'' Miss Blanker said of her experiences in Sierra Leone. ''Whenever I would see a white person, I would wave hi and say, 'Hello.' ''

Most of the Peace Corps volunteers taught math, science and English. The men and women, whose ages range from 26 to 35, served in 18 different countries.

Many of the fellows agree that teaching abroad was easier than teaching in New York because overseas they had more autonomy in the classroom. As Peace Corps volunteers, they often had to improvise to compensate for the dearth of textbooks and other basic school supplies. One teacher, for example, used ball-point pen casings as tubing for a science experiment.

They also developed unusually close relationships with students and their parents. ''In Africa, it's a privilege to go to school,'' said Peter Rillero, 26, who taught in Kenya and now teaches at Herbert Lehman High School in the Bronx. ''Kids appreciate both their schools and their teachers more.''

''In New York, students think they've seen everything,'' said Gary Foote, 26 years old, who taught chemistry, physics and math in Kenya and now teaches at Herbert Lehman. But the fellows say their New York students pepper them with questions about living abroad, at times fascinated by the prospect of sleeping in a hut, other times uneasy at the thought of surrendering their modern conveniences.

''The idea of an outhouse is appalling to seventh graders,'' said Jennifer Knudson, 28, who taught in Kenya and now works at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Manhattan.

Students here have more distractions from their school work, such as television, the fellows say. They also are more demanding.

''In New York, no kid is going to respect you just because you're an adult,'' Miss Blanker said. ''You have to prove yourself every day.''

''Other teachers will rightfully complain that the equipment here is very poor,'' said Lottie Taylor, the principal at A. Philip Randolph, where seven fellows teach. ''But the Peace Corps members can tell everyone what it was like to teach without even textbooks.''

The fellows will be asked to stay in the school system after their two-year scholarships end, school officials said. Mrs. Taylor hopes they stay with the city and that the program continues.