Conrad: Adopt North Dakota Teacher Standards
Conrad: Adopt North Dakota Teacher Standards
Senator Urges Education Secretary to OK North Dakota Teacher Plan
At a meeting in his Capitol Hill office, Senator Kent Conrad urged the Education Secretary to reverse an Education Department's earlier ruling that North Dakota's elementary school teachers don't meet "highly qualified" standards under "No Child Left Behind."
"This is exactly what we feared with 'No Child Left Behind' -- that Washington wouldn't recognize the flexibility we need in rural states to meet the new "highly qualified" standards for teachers," Senator Conrad said. "I remember many of my teachers growing up in North Dakota. I can tell you that many of them would have made fine United States Senators -- they were people of outstanding character and intelligence. Yet I wonder if they would have met this burdensome qualification."
Under "No Child Left Behind," elementary school teachers must demonstrate competency in several subjects, including English, math, science, social studies and foreign languages. The Education Department rejected a North Dakota plan that state officials and educators say would have met federal standards by requiring teachers to hold teaching degrees with majors in the field of instruction and a state license.
At stake are the futures of about 3,800 teachers in North Dakota who were affected by the Education Department's decision. Education officials in North Dakota fear that the federal agency's ruling would prompt a wave of retirements by teachers who would rather leave the classroom then endure onerous training in subjects many have been teaching for years. Approximately 40 percent of elementary teachers in North Dakota are eligible to retire.
"I've asked Secretary Spellings to reconsider the Administration's decision. It poses a great hardship on North Dakota and our school children and educators, and I don't believe that was the intent of 'No Child Left Behind,' " Senator Conrad said. "North Dakota's teaching requirements are rigorous and reasonable enough as our national test scores demonstrate."
http://conrad.senate.gov/~conrad/releases/05/01/2005125A04.html