No States Meet Teacher Quality Goal

[Kerrytravelers]

No States Meet Teacher Quality Goal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060512/ap_on_re_us/teacher_quality

By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer
7 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - 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.

<snip>

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."

<snip>
No matter which category they are in, all the states must submit a new plan of action.

<snip>

Some teachers, particularly in small or rural areas, handle many subjects and have not met the law's details in each one. Many schools struggle just to find teachers in math, science or special education. And turnover is common, often blamed on salary and stress.

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On the Net:

Education Department: http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherqual/hqtltr/index.html



So, the schools in the poorest areas are the ones losing the most federal money. I"m a teacher. I know exactly what this means. The problem also lies in the state budgets. My district, for example, only hires first year, often non-credentialed teachers because they cost half or even 1/3 of what I would cost. it is sickening... but there isn't any money to do much else.

They really want to destroy the public school system.

[fishwax]

1. that was the plan from the start, I think

They really want to destroy the public school system.

that's what nclb was really all about ...

[genieroze]

19. That's the first thing I thought.

[WindRavenX]

2. wow, that NCLB act really fixed education up

:puke:

I am going to be going into education when I graduate from college next year :scared:

[iconoclastic cat]

12. Don't. Trust me.

[WindRavenX]

13. too late

I'm a sucker for punishment x(

[iconoclastic cat]

16. And you'll get it.

Not from the kids, though. Watch your back around the adults. Never admit weakness. Never ask someone at your own school for advice on a problem. Never, ever write up a disciplinary report unless there is actual blood spilled. And call the crap out of parents.

[1monster]

14. I started substitute teaching as a method getting some experience

while I went back to college to pick up courses that I needed to become a teacher.

I've done several long term sub jobs so I know what the regular classroom teacher faces. While there are some horrendous days, as a rule, I love teaching.

But after a couple of years subbing, I will not be trying for teacher accreditation or for a regular classroom teacher's job. The ridiculous nonsense required by the state and federal governments are destroying education; it takes the teacher experience out of teaching.

And the school politics that I've witnessed has turned me off completely.

I'll continue to sub (while I can afford to--the pay is such that bird seed looks outrageously expensive) and enjoy my job...

[Runcible Spoon]

3. ahhh, I see it's not "No Child Left Behind"...

It's EVERY CHILD LEFT BEHIND! Thanks for your visionary legislation, Commander Fuckwad! :grr:

[longship]

4. Define "highly qualified teacher"

Is it some new graduate, fresh out of college with a new, squeaky clean, education diploma who has never taught (other than "student teaching") and has only a Bachelors degree subject matter knowledge?

Or...

Is it somebody who has worked for over three decades, has college level teaching experience, and is a recognized expert in the field of study, but is without an education degree?

I fall into the latter category. My subject was high school mathematics here in CA but lost my job because I did not have the magic education degree. (Mine is in physics, not education.) When I took the subject matter exams for teaching mathematics, which were easily as difficult as the math GRE, I took two of the three exams simultaneously and easily passed both when the "fully qualified teachers", some with more teaching experience, were failing the one exam they took. This was thirty years after I took the math courses on which the exam was based.

Five mathematics teachers in a single school disappeared from the profession. The next year, with only "fully qualified teachers" the freshman algebra failure rate shot up to 93%!!

Amazing! Fucking amazing.

[WindRavenX]

5. I will not have majored in education either

I'll have a BA in Biology and English but have taught in my free time.

[longship]

6. In California, you couldn't teach.

There's something wrong with this picture.

[WindRavenX]

8. I'm pretty sure that's not true

You usually have contracts that state you need to earn an MA in education in X number of years OR you'll lose your license.

But if you are right...damn. That just ain't right.

[Kerrytravelers]

7. It is amazing how little knowledge matters and how standardized testing is

the final "decider."

Hummm..... and we're doing the exact same thing to the kids. It just makes me insane!

[leesa]

9. What a joke this is!

[Sgent]

10. The definition

of Highly Qualified Teacher is left up to the individual state governments (although there are minimums).

Someone with a BS in physics or a biology is considered highly qualified to teach math and science respectively -- according to federal guidelines.

Individual states may require that teacher to have a Bachelor's in science/math education, but its not a federal one.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Withholding aid will improve the respective schools.

[seasat]

15. The problem is highly qualified teacher are leaving.

Here's a radical idea. If you increase the requirements and work load for a teacher, you will limit the number of teachers available to work at the going wage. How about paying teachers what they are worth and then you will get plenty of highly qualified teachers. Repugs, they must have all flunked econ 101.

Alternatively, as others have noted, they are trying to destroy the public school system. Here in Florida they increased the requirements for teachers but not the salary. We now have a shortage of teachers. The voucher program, killed by the FL supreme court (our last sane branch of state government) did not require teachers to meet the strict state requirements. In other words, a FL public school teacher needs at a least a bachelors degree, a ton of education classes, passing a test for each subject taught, regular observation by another qualified teacher, and regular continuing education classes. A Fl private school teacher can teach calculus with an associates degree in basket weaving and no other requirments. Does this make sense to anyone?

[Reader Rabbit]

17. In most cases, the "highly qualified" designation is crap.

I began teaching 8th grade in Oregon with seven years of experience, a BA in English, and an MA in Social Sciences. I was designated "NOT highly qualified" because I had a Transitional License, which is required for the first three years by state law. Once I finished my third year in Oregon, I wrote a check for $75 to the Licensing Board and poof! I was magically a "highly qualified" teacher!

The only difference between pre and post "highly qualified"? "Highly qualified" meant that I had a piece of paper in my hand and $75 less in my bank account.

Highly qualified is crap. Obviously, you've got to know your subject matter, but what really makes someone highly qualified is an ability to present the information in manner that is accessible to the kids and, more importantly, the resilience and stamina to do so while being shat on by detractors from all walks of society.

The problem with public education isn't the teachers. It's all the "experts" who think they know how to do it better.

Sorry to rant. NCLB just gets my blood up. Shit, it's only 7am, and I think I already need a drink!

[Odin2005]

18. Overbureaucrization and effective education don't mix.

That's why BS like NCLB doesn't work. Education can't be treated like a civil service job