Experienced teachers are expected to jump through hoop after hoop

Even though she held undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, had a current credential in her major field and had taught successfully for nine years, it didn't look like Lori Tewksbury could meet the definition of a "highly qualified teacher" under federal law.

Back in 1995, she had decided to take the National Teachers Exam (NTE), the competency test of that era, rather than stay in school when she learned she was one course short of getting her credential.

That's still an acceptable way to get a credential, but under the new federal requirement for highly qualified teachers, "only the new tests would count," says Tewksbury, president of the Acalanes Education Association in Lafayette.

Fortunately for her, the state has accepted teacher input as it developed guidelines for complying with the federal law. Under the draft of the HOUSSE guidelines, it seems the NTE will be accepted.

Although Tewksbury is relieved, she now has a new problem: proving she passed the test.

The Acalanes High School biology teacher assumed the letter reporting her scores would be in her personnel file, but it isn't. "It might be on file at Cal. Or it might be at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. I have no idea. All I know is, I don't have it and the district doesn't have it."

Even though 90 percent of experienced teachers in California will be able to comply with the federal requirement through the HOUSSE procedure, they're still upset at being put through the wringer yet again.

"The idea of having a credentialed teacher in every classroom is good, but there is a problem when being 'highly qualified' and fully credentialed aren't the same thing," says Tewksbury. "It's baffling. It's just making teachers go through a bunch of extra hoops. The law doesn't need to be fixed - it needs to be repealed."

She said as much at a state Assembly committee hearing last November.

"When will it stop?" asks Kathy Harris, a member of the Piner-Olivet Educators Association. "When is someone ever considered qualified?"

As vice chair of CTA's Credentials and Professional Development Committee, Harris wonders whether teachers can ever do enough to prove themselves. "It's a system that can't be satisfied. They never stop wanting to add just one more thing."

Although the HOUSSE process is "frustrating and insulting," she says, it's a lot better than having to go back to school, earn an additional credential or sit for a competency exam. Compared with the alternative, "it's wonderful - and due in large part to CTA's efforts."

"I'm not at all thrilled to go through the paperwork, but I guess it's one more hoop that I'll jump through."

"Every five years I have to get my credential reauthorized and take 150 hours of professional growth," says Arnold Chakerian, a member of the Kings County Education Association. "I don't really feel that it's fair to make me prove I'm 'highly qualified' when I have to be reauthorized every five years anyway."

Although he has a teaching credential, has 12 years of experience and is near the top of the salary schedule, Chakerian is concerned about whether some college coursework he took will count since he opted to take it for professional growth instead of paying the extra money to get official credit.

Chakerian also fears that veteran teachers may be required to take a competency test if, after having gone through the HOUSSE procedure to get certified in one core subject area, they decide later on to teach in another subject area. "Are teachers going to be locked into teaching assignments for the rest of our lives or be forced to take a test?" he asks.

In all likelihood, veteran teachers will continue to have the HOUSSE option when being certified in a new subject area.

He recalls the panic that ensued when he and fellow teachers at Sheridan Elementary School in Orange Cove first became aware of the new federal requirements for highly qualified teachers. "At one point, there were rumors that everyone would have to take a competency test."

The whole thing is causing a lot of stress and animosity, says Chakerian. "Lots of teachers are thinking fiercely about whether they want to stay in the profession."

Tracy Begley, a resource teacher at Willis Jepson School in Vacaville, says she may well be "highly qualified" under HOUSSE. "But if I'm not, I don't really have the time to go back to college. I have a young daughter."

Then again, says the member of the Vacaville Teachers Association, "I've been thinking that if I do have to go back to school, maybe I should go back for something that will pay better."

NCLB is especially troublesome for those who teach outside their credential area. According to a survey by the U.S. Department of Education, more than half of the nation's middle school students and a quarter of all high school students are learning core academic subjects from teachers who did not major in those subjects in college and lack certification in those areas.

Teachers used to able to take "supplemental authorization" units that would allow them to teach outside their credential area. But under the new federal law, some experienced teachers will have to take additional coursework, earn an additional credential or earn a degree in all the subjects they teach.

Keith Waters, a teacher at Foothill Middle School in Walnut Creek for eight years, has a clear credential in social sciences and majored in history at California State University, Chico. But along with social science, he teaches language arts and reading.

"I didn't know what to do. I guess it's the same all over," says Waters, a member of the Mount Diablo Education Association. "Teachers are waiting for their school to give them information, the school is waiting for the district office to give them information, the district is waiting for the state to provide information, and the state is waiting for the federal government."

But Waters got tired of waiting. When he heard about the HOUSSE process for meeting the law's requirements, he visited the California Department of Education website [http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/] to see if he has enough points to be considered highly qualified.

"I haven't filled out all the forms, but it seems most likely that I will meet the requirements and get the 100 points necessary," he says. "I'm relieved."

Most experienced teachers, says Kathy Harris, are willing to dig through paperwork to find documentation of coursework and professional development that will prove they are NCLB compliant. "Teachers, as usual, are being very professional."