After being chided by education officials in Washington for trying to sidestep the No Child Left Behind Act's "highly qualified" teacher mandate, the California state Board of Education is still struggling to define what makes a teacher "highly qualified" to comply with federal guidelines. Some fear that a strict interpretation of that standard will exacerbate the teacher shortage by forcing out thousands of teachers, many of whom now work in disadvantaged schools. Last August, the Board sought to classify teachers on emergency credentials as "highly qualified." Critics, including Rep. George Miller (D-CA), one of the bill's primary authors, assailed the Board, saying that attempting to bypass NCLB requirements was "an audacious and reckless action that suggests a lack of regard for students, parents and taxpayers." Now the Board is considering an alternative definition that would require new teachers to pass a state test to be considered "highly qualified," and would require veteran teachers to pass a performance review. Not surprisingly, the California Federation of Teachers, the California Teachers Association and the California School Boards Association are lobbying against all such measures. The State Board is scheduled to decide the matter in June.
"Teachers may take state test," by Kara Shire, The Contra Costa Times, April 25, 2003