The No Child Left Behind Act exists to put "highly qualified" teachers in classrooms, but it's not working that way in Kerman.
Instead -- because of the federal law's strict guidelines -- some middle schoolers are learning from substitutes who get replaced every 30 days,Superintendent Roger Halberg said Tuesday.
School administrators, teachers and parents shared frustrations Tuesday afternoon during a Fresno meeting called to gather suggestions on how to improve the 2002 law.
The federal academic reform law requires school districts to hire "highly qualified" teachers, meaning they must possess a bachelor's degree, state certification and expertise in their subject, as defined by the law.
Good intentions aside, Halberg said, the law tied his hands when about 50 new students showed up -- unanticipated -- at Kerman Middle School this year.
"We had to go find the books for them. We had to go find classrooms," he said.
Most importantly, the district needed two highly qualified teachers to fill 14 additional instructional periods. Problem was, no one would take the jobs.
"We keep advertising and hoping," he said.
Until the jobs are filled, Halberg said, the district has to use substitutes. Because the school can't use a substitute who isn't "highly qualified" for more than a month, it continually swaps teachers out of classrooms.
Halberg said he knows the system isn't good for the students, but he doesn't have much choice.
"I want to do what's best for the kids and the class, and I am also committed to uphold the constitution of California and not break the law," he said.
The California Department of Education called the meeting at Fresno High School specifically to gather ideas on how to change the teacher quality portion of the No Child Left Behind Act, said Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction.
The law, which is up for congressional reauthorization in 2007, needs changing because it's "underfunded, overly prescriptive and inflexible," O'Connell said.
About 40 people attended the open meeting, which is part of a series designed to gather input on what Californians want changed in the law. Other meeting topics include accountability, English learner issues and interventions/corrective actions.
O'Connell said he's heard stories like Halberg's. He once visited a school in South Central Los Angeles that was unable to hire enough teachers in tough-to-fill subjects. He said about 100 students who were supposed to be in math and science classes were watching a movie on the Louisiana Purchase.
Some speakers during Tuesday's meeting complained that strict standards are driving good teachers out of the profession, including those in hard-to-fill subjects like special education.
Others complained that because of the way No Child Left Behind is written, an aerospace engineer wouldn't be allowed to teach general science classes because he wouldn't have the proper qualifications.
"We'd be the first ones who would have to reject him," said Rick Carder of the Grant Joint Union High School District in Sacramento.
The reporter can be reached at cvance@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6197.
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