Saturday, May 13, 2006
School Standards
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Not a single state will have a highly qualified teacher in every core class this school year as promised by President Bush's education law. Nine states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico face penalties.
The Department of Education on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified -- belatedly -- in the 2006-07 school year.
In the meantime, some states face the loss of federal aid because they didn't make enough effort to comply on time, officials said.
They are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
"At some point there was, I suspect, a little bit of notion that 'This too shall pass,' " said Henry Johnson, the assistant secretary over elementary and secondary education. "Well, the day of reckoning is here, and it's not going to pass."
Department officials would not say how much aid could be withheld from states to force compliance. But Johnson said, "In some cases, we're talking about large amounts of money."
The 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law says teachers must have a bachelor's degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by this year. The first federal order of its kind, it applies to teachers of math, history and any other core class.
In grading the states, the department found that 29 have made substantial progress. They must improve, but they do not face looming sanctions.
Twelve other states are still under review and haven't been rated: Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
No matter which category they are in, all the states must submit a new plan of action.
Most states give themselves good grades on teacher quality; 33 states say 90 percent to 99 percent of their classes are taught by highly qualified teachers. Most of the rest put their numbers a tier below, in a range of 70 percent to 89 percent.
Although the federal term is "highly qualified," the definition is widely regarded as more of a minimum qualification, because it requires teachers to know what they teach. Well amazingly enough for once I agree with something Bush is doing. It is about time we start holding our teachers to a higher standard. I live in south Florida and the teachers here do not care one bit, and most are certainly not qualified enough to be teaching the subjects they are teaching. My brother's 4th grade teacher was only 11 years older than he was. She was 20 years old. You can not tell me she had proper schooling to teach the subjects she was teaching. She couldn't have and had not. These are the people that are teaching and shaping our children; shouldn't they be held to a high standard? I think so. Now don't get me wrong; I am usualy in the teachers court here. I think for the most part they are amazing people who take thankless jobs that pay very little. My brother-in-law, working at Wendy's, makes more than most our teachers do. Whoa! There is a problem with that. However, they need to have proper training/schooling for the subjects they are teaching our children! I think I might need some prescription medication to deal with the fact that I agree with Bush on something!
Posted by Tara ::
7:31 AM ::
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