By Priscilla Winslow
Winslow is CTA’s assistant chief counsel and a member of CTA’s ESEA Workgroup.
When the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was reauthorized in 2002 as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), it required all teachers of core subjects in California schools to be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005 - 06 school year. That deadline has come and gone, and California reports that approximately 85 percent of all core classes taught in our public schools are taught by teachers who have demonstrated their eligibility as defined by NCLB. As a result, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has given the state (and dozens of others) an extra year to achieve 100 percent compliance.
Unfortunately, she has also taken it upon herself to unilaterally change the federal law by decreeing that states must discontinue the use of the High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) as a means by which veteran teachers may demonstrate their subject-matter competence.
The importance of the HOUSSE process
Under NCLB, all teachers of core subjects must demonstrate their “highly qualified” status by having a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential, and being able to demonstrate subject-matter competence in each core subject they teach. Teachers who received their credential after July 1, 2002, can only demonstrate subject-matter competence by taking a state-approved test. Those who are “not new” to the profession (those who received their credential before July 1, 2002) have the option of demonstrating subject-matter competence by utilizing the state-approved HOUSSE process. This is a system that awards points (a total of 100 needed) for course work, experience, evaluations, professional development, leadership and service to the profession, or a portfolio assessment to determine subject-matter competence.
As time goes on, fewer teachers need to use the HOUSSE process because most veteran teachers have already demonstrated subject-matter competence, and many teachers have received their credentials since July 1, 2002.
Nevertheless, the HOUSSE procedure is important:
- For veteran teachers who may have been teaching in a subject area for years but did not major in that area;
- For those who teach multiple core subjects;
- For special education teachers in middle or high schools who teach multiple core subjects, but have a degree and credential in special education;
- For teachers who may be reassigned to a different core subject at some point in the future.
Federal action limiting the use of HOUSSE
In May 2006, the U.S. Department of Education took the position that states must devise plans to limit the use of HOUSSE after the end of the 2005-06 school year to the following situations:
- Multi-subject secondary teachers in rural schools, who, if highly qualified in one subject at the time of hire, may use HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in additional subjects within three years of the date of hire.
- Multi-subject special education teachers new to the profession, who, if highly qualified in language arts, mathematics or science at the time of hire, may use HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in additional subjects within two years of the date of hire.
This could prevent significant groups of veteran teachers from using HOUSSE to demonstrate their subject-matter competence, after June 30, 2006.
For example, a teacher who is deemed highly qualified to teach history, but is transferred to teach English at some point in the future, will need to demonstrate subject-matter competence in English. Without HOUSSE, the only way to do so would be by taking an exam, taking enough college courses to constitute a major in the subject, taking a subject-matter program approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, or obtaining a graduate degree in the subject.
CTA’s position
CTA believes that Secretary Spellings’ attempt to limit the use of HOUSSE to the situations described above is not authorized by ESEA (NCLB) itself. There is nothing in that statute that phases out the use of HOUSSE. Instead, the statute specifies that any state receiving federal funds must develop a plan to ensure that all teachers of core subjects in the state are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. California did this and was mostly successful.
Section 9101(23) of NCLB defines “highly qualified” and specifically provides that teachers who are not new to the profession may demonstrate competence in all the academic subjects taught “based on a high objective uniform State standard of evaluation.” There is no “sunset” date on this provision after which it will cease to exist.
CTA believes that Secretary Spellings’ attempt to limit HOUSSE to only a very few situations is beyond her legal authority because it contradicts the plain language of the statute.
The state of California has indicated in its July 2006 “Plan of Activities to Meet NCLB Teacher Quality Requirements” that it will seek to implement certain changes in HOUSSE after July 1, 2007. For example, the California Department of Education wants to remove “leadership and service to the profession” as a category for which teachers can obtain points. It also wants to phase out the portfolio assessment portion.
With these small exceptions, the state has not made any attempt to discontinue or limit the use of HOUSSE for California’s teachers who are not new to the profession. HOUSSE is a state function.
There will no doubt be litigation against the Secretary of Education if she imposes sanctions against the states based on her erroneous reading of the law. Until those issues are resolved, CTA is urging all teachers of core subjects who are not new to the profession to become “highly qualified” if they have not already done so. For those veteran teachers who are teaching new subjects for which they have not demonstrated subject-matter competence, chapters should insist that they be allowed to use the existing HOUSSE process. The same advice goes for secondary teachers who teach multiple subjects in a self-contained classroom.
CTA’s Legal Department needs to be advised if any school districts refuse to permit veteran teachers to utilize the HOUSSE process when necessary.
