CONTACT: Miguel A. Gonzalez  (202) 822-7823 

August 16, 2006 

NEA Urges Congress to Retract Policies that Jeopardize Thousands of Teachers' Careers as Department of Education Releases Review of States' Highly Qualified Teachers Plans

Weaver encouraged by acknowledgement of teachers' and states' hard work to comply with requirement

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Education made public today its review of state plans to comply with the highly qualified teacher requirements under the so called No Child Left Behind Act. The department announced that nine states submitted plans that met the department’s criteria, 39 states partially met the criteria, and four states—Hawaii, Missouri, Utah and Wisconsin—did not meet the criteria.

The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Reg Weaver:

“The 2.8 million members of NEA firmly embrace the fundamental belief that great public schools are a basic right for every child, and having a highly qualified teacher in every classroom is not only desirable but necessary for great public schools. Today’s action by the department acknowledges the fact that many educators and states have worked very hard to ensure all public school students are taught by highly qualified teachers.

“While I’m pleased with today’s action, much more work remains ahead of us. Many of our most experienced teachers’ careers remain in jeopardy due to a May decision by the department that limits the use of a provision—known as High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation—to meet the highly qualified requirement. That action will affect experienced teachers who need additional time to meet the requirements, who are scheduled to change assignments, change school districts, move from one state to another, or be rehired after a period of not working as a teacher.

“That’s why today—as I did in May—I urge Congress and the department to retract the HOUSSE policy. We cannot afford to lose some of the most seasoned public school teachers at a time when they are needed most.  Congress has a responsibility to ensure that our students do not lose the valuable resources of these experienced teachers.

“I also call on Congress to increase financial resources through Title I and Title II teacher quality state grants to assist states in fulfilling these plans. The pending House and Senate FY07 education appropriations bills freeze Title I at last year’s level, which was a cut from FY05, and cut teacher quality state grants by 10 percent in the House and five percent in the Senate. 

“Finally, I strongly encourage states, especially those who have to revise or submit new plans, to work closely with their state teacher organizations to ensure that their teacher quality plans and their implementation benefit from the knowledge of those in the classroom.

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.8 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.