To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Observercast

The Gap

on

POSTED BY FROSTY TROY

Teachers who meet the “highly qualified” state-set standard were teaching core subjects in 94% of the nation’s classrooms in the 2006-07 school year.

Poorer schools were still less likely than their wealthier counterparts to employ them.

In some states, the gap was glaring: 95% of elementary classes in low-poverty schools in Maryland were staffed with highly qualified teachers, compared with only 66% in poorer schools.

The “highly qualified” teacher requirement is a provision of the six-year-old No Child Left Behind Act.

All states must report annually the percentage of core-subject classes taught by highly qualified teachers and break down the numbers for classes in high-poverty schools.

Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News’ Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.