Law demands states correct inequities in education; few schools in compliance

By FREDREKA SCHOUTEN
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Denise Dixon of Chicago worked up her courage in September and asked her children's teachers an awkward question — were they qualified to teach?

Dixon wanted to know specifically whether the teachers held certificates showing they met minimum state standards.

To Dixon's relief, they did. But she was dismayed she had to ask.

"When you march your child into school in the first part of September, you never think to ask whether that person is qualified to teach," Dixon said. "You assume they are because they are there. But that's not true."

Under a federal law signed by President Bush in January, parents like Dixon don't have to take the first step in finding out who's certified and who isn't.

The law puts the burden on schools to tell parents if teachers are qualified. And, for the first time, the law requires states to correct the inequities that leave poor and minority students with the least able teachers.

A Gannett News Service investigation of teaching quality at poor and minority schools found that half of public schools serving minority children fill long-term teaching vacancies with substitutes, many of whom lack even basic teaching qualifications.

And poor high school students are twice as likely as their middle-class and wealthy peers to be taught key subjects by teachers who lack state certification in those fields.

Hugh Price, the outgoing president of the National Urban League, called the GNS findings "borderline scandalous."

In his book, "Achievement Matters: Getting Your Child the Best Education Possible," he argues that schools will leave children behind if parents don't play a more active role. But as he has promoted the book across the country, Price said he's often met by frustrated parents who say: ''It's all I can do to deal with food and clothing, why can't I trust the teachers?''

The federal legislation, known as the No Child Left Behind Act, reflects the growing public dissatisfaction with the quality of teachers who work at poor and minority schools - and demands that states make changes.

The law also requires that teachers of key academic courses, such as English, math and science, be "highly qualified" by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

It's up to states to define highly qualified, but the federal law says teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree, meet state standards for certification and demonstrate mastery of the subjects they teach.

The law also directs states to devise plans to guarantee that poor and minority children are not taught more often than other students by unqualified, inexperienced teachers.
And for the first time, it gives parents the right to information about teachers' qualifications.

Among the requirements:

- Starting this year, public schools must notify parents that they have the right to ask questions about the qualifications of their kids' teachers.

- Schools must tell parents when their children have been taught by an unqualified teacher for four weeks in a row.

- Report cards that detail the academic performance of public schools must show the percentage of teachers who meet the "highly qualified" definition and how those numbers compare with other schools in the district and state.

"The best parts of this law provide parents with more information," said Ross Wiener, director of policy for The Education Trust, which advocates on behalf of poor and minority children. "It is then incumbent on parents and advocates for children to use that information for positive change."

So far, states and school districts have mixed records of complying with the teacher-quality provisions of the law.
Of 50 large school districts selected from around the country, only 25 percent had met the law's requirement to notify parents whose children have been taught for four weeks in a row by a teacher who is not "highly qualified," according to a survey by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

Twanna LaTrice Hill, a policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States in Denver, has researched state compliance and said, "a significant percentage have not come up with a definition of highly qualified teachers that is consistent with the law.

"A lot of states have a long ways to go," she said.

But at least four - Kentucky, Louisiana, Indiana and Texas - have made significant strides. In those states, parents can log on to state Web sites, punch in an individual teacher's name and download background on their qualifications.

But even parents who have information can't always act on it quickly.

Lili Brown of New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City reform group, noted, for instance, that even parents who are eligible to transfer their children to other public schools can't find better schools with enough space.

Once parents obtain information about the quality of their children's teachers, Brown said, "they need to insinuate themselves into the process" by joining parent-teacher organizations and other school groups.

Parent groups, for instance, can ask questions about how much a school is doing to help teachers sharpen their skills, advocates say. Or they can encourage principals to provide mentors for inexperienced teachers.

The Public Education Network, a school-reform group based in Washington, recently launched a new Web site — www.GiveKidsGoodSchools.com — to help the public pressure state and local officials to comply with the teacher-quality provisions of the federal law.

William Miles, the group's policy director, said all parents should demand change.

"If you're satisfied that your kids are getting high-quality instruction, don't all kids in this community deserve it?" he asked.

Denise Dixon certainly thinks so.

Her children attend Chicago's predominantly black Luke O'Toole Elementary, where 40 percent of teachers during the 2000-01 school year lacked appropriate teaching licenses, an ACORN study found.

Dixon now works for ACORN's Illinois chapter. She said she won't rest until she is satisfied that the children in her neighborhood have an equal shot at qualified teachers who know their subjects.

"If you have a heart attack, you don't go to the dentist to do heart surgery,'' she said. "I want my kids to get the best possible education they can get. They already come out with a strike against them because they are black and they are low-income. I want them to at least get a foothold, a decent education.''

(Contributing: GNS reporter Larry Bivins.)