By June 30, all core subject teachers in North Carolina will have to meet the “highly qualified” standards under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The N&O reports that teachers and school districts are upset or worried about meeting the standards by the deadline.
Here is why all of this whining really grinds my gears:
1) Teachers and school districts have known about the requirement since 2002, and the requirements have not changed in the last four years. Experienced teachers have had three entire summer breaks (180-225 days), three spring breaks (15-18 days), three Christmas breaks (18-21 days), and three years of teacher work days (12-18 days) to take the necessary steps to meet the NCLB requirements. All teachers hired after 2002 were well aware of the requirements when they were hired.
2) These kinds of requirements are a beast of the education establishment’s own making. They want certification requirements, and NCLB gives them want they want.
3) For the most part, states dictate what constitutes a “highly qualified” teacher. Thus, the problem is not President Bush and NCLB. It is the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction that is to blame. Teachers unions and unions-lite (NC Association of Educators) have effectively shifted the blame from the state to the federal government because they hate Republicans.
