Letter from Phil Kirk

The Good and Bad of 'No Child Left Behind'

The new federal education legislation known as “No Child Left Behind” is a powerful tool for improving the lot of all children and especially those who have had the greatest difficulty in school. It’s one thing to Leave No Child Behind, as this federal law requires, and quite another to find and keep the teachers who will bring every child up to speed.

For local school districts, the same federal education legislation that promises sweeping changes in how schools are evaluated also presents major challenges in school staffing. For the first time, this law sets a national standard for teacher qualifications and, in the process, eliminates emergency teaching licenses and other stop-gap measures that many schools have had to use to meet teacher demands in the past.

Recently, Gov. Mike Easley released findings from a statewide survey of teachers that showed that, overall, teachers are not satisfied with their working conditions. In particular, teachers feel that they do not have ample time to do their jobs, especially time to work on curriculum, classroom management and individual instruction, and time to collaborate with colleagues and to participate in professional development. In general, teachers in smaller schools are more satisfied than their colleagues in larger schools, but teachers differ considerably from principals in their assessments of funding for instructional supplies and in how well they are shielded from disruptions to instructional time.

While addressing some of these concerns would require additional money, some do not. For example, it may not cost additional money to limit interruptions and disruptions to the instructional and productive time that teachers have each day. It would require the will to say no to activities that do not directly support the goals of the school. It would not add expense to include teachers more fully in the decision-making process in schools – another area of concern to teachers. Adding time to the teacher work year, and providing smaller schools, would be more expensive.

The law requires, as of the 2002-03 school year, that all newly hired teachers who teach core subjects in Title I schools must meet its definition of Highly Qualified. Title I schools serve large proportions of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch, and make up about half of North Carolina schools. Core academic subjects include English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, social studies, economics, arts, history, geography and kindergarten through sixth grade.

All core academic teachers in every school are required to be Highly Qualified by June 30, 2006. What does Highly Qualified mean? It means being fully licensed by the state and certified to teach in their subject areas. For elementary school teachers, this means a full state license and passing the elementary Praxis II tests that are relevant to their teaching area. Teachers at the middle and high school levels also must be fully state licensed and demonstrate subject area knowledge. To demonstrate subject area knowledge, teachers have several options: an undergraduate major in each academic subject taught, coursework equivalent to an academic major, a graduate degree, a master’s level license or above in the appropriate subject area, or National Board Certification in the related area. These requirements will be the most difficult to meet at the high school and middle school levels because teachers are more likely to have some assignments that do not directly align with their teaching license.

North Carolina has made considerable progress in improving teacher quality over the past five years. We have ranked first in the country two of the past three years. We have strengthened our requirements, improved average teacher pay to the range of the national average and provided new incentives for obtaining master’s degrees and obtaining certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

Our state has more National Board certified teachers than any other state.

Nonetheless, recruiting teachers continues to be difficult and is made more challenging by the new federal requirements. This is the time to consider not only salaries and compensation, but also what makes teaching an attractive and satisfying career. Addressing those needs as well will help us keep the teachers that we need to Leave No Child Behind.

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