Review: Teacher-quality mandate a big hurdle for states

WASHINGTON -- Having missed one deadline already, states face an enormous challenge in putting qualified teachers in all major classes, a federal review has concluded.

Some states are in much better shape than others, the US Department of Education said yesterday. Most meet only some criteria in required new plans. Four fail altogether.

Under the No Child Left Behind law, states were supposed to have highly qualified teachers in every core academic class by the end of the last school year. None made it.

So the Education Department demanded new state plans. They were to include details on how states would improve their teaching corps and ensure fairness for poor and minority children.

The federal analysis of those plans yields a mixed picture.

Most states got credit for showing serious effort. Yet a few were ordered to start over. Every state was given specific recommendations and told to follow them.

Overall, most failed to provide all the answers the department asked for. Still, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said she was encouraged.

``Many states took this very seriously, recognizing that good teachers make all the difference in whether or not our children succeed in their studies," she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, for parents and students, more patience will be required. The new goal is 100 percent compliance by the end of the 2006-07 school year, but some states may be years away.

Most of the states -- 37 , plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico -- met only some of the criteria. They must submit new data or plans this fall or risk facing penalties.

Four states failed altogether: Hawaii, Missouri, Utah , and Wisconsin. They must submit new plans and undergo monthly auditing of their teacher-quality data, the department said.

The remaining nine states received favorable reviews for submitting complete plans and creative ideas about how they will improve: Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina , and South Dakota.

South Carolina, for example, was praised for paying incentives to teachers in high-need schools. Louisiana was credited for collecting clear, meaningful data on teacher quality.

All the plans were examined by outside review teams, mainly state officials.

``We're pretty hopeful that if states seriously implement these plans -- and we intend to monitor that -- then change will happen," said René Islas, chief of staff for the US Department of Education's elementary and secondary education office.

The promise of better teachers is a significant part of President Bush's education law. The law defines ``highly qualified" teachers as those who have a bachelor's degree, a state license, and proven competency in every subject they teach. It is often regarded as a minimum qualification, because it requires teachers to know what they teach.

The department can withhold money from states that fall short.