New law says intern teachers are ‘highly qualified’
Published: January 18, 2011
In a move that supersedes a 2010 California appellate court decision, President Obama last month signed a new federal law that allows states to count interns working in the classroom toward their teaching credentials as “highly qualified” under terms of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Local educational agencies had been tracking the issue since the appellate court ruled last September that interns do not meet NCLB’s standards for highly qualified teachers, but officials at the California Department of Education urged school districts and county offices of education not to take immediate action pending an anticipated reconsideration of the issue by Congress.
CSBA Senior Policy Consultant Stephanie Medrano Farland agreed, confirming that the new federal law maintains existing federal policy—but she also recognized the court’s interest in promoting teacher quality throughout school systems.
“Districts and county offices need as much flexibility and choice as possible when making hiring decisions,” Farland said. “Along with that flexibility, however, they should be careful not to concentrate these inexperienced teachers in historically low-performing schools with the neediest students.”
The appellate court decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Public Advocates, a nonprofit law firm and advocacy group, on behalf of low-income California parents. The plaintiffs argued that children in the least affluent schools were most likely to be taught by uncredentialed teachers. They argued that LEAs should be required to notify parents if their children are being taught by intern or apprentice teachers who, plaintiffs asserted, should not be labeled highly qualified.
But supporters of alternative credentialing programs like Teach for America and The California Teacher Corps argued that if it had been allowed to stand, the California court decision would keep talented novice teachers out of the classroom and make it difficult for LEAs to find quality teachers. NCLB requires that LEAs show that 100 percent of the public school teachers in core academic subjects are highly qualified.