D.C. List Shows 90 Teacher Vacancies Rhee's Office Puts Number at 42, Says Shifts Will Be Made
by Bill Turque… Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 29, 2008
Turque points out that several schools in the D.C. area are understaffed, and suggests that this is due to the 270 teachers that were let go over the summer. Well, that makes sense… Apparently, 200 teachers were not able to get the certification that they needed to teach under NCLB. They were unable to pass the ever popular PRAXIS, some missing the mark by just one point… So, they were let go.
I’m not sure if Michelle Rhee should be blamed if teachers can’t pass the PRAXIS in their own content area. In fact, I believe teachers have more than one try at the exam, and know well in advance when their certificate expires or what certification requirements need to be met to teach the content area they are assigned to.
Teachers in D.C. have to bear the burden for not having enough educators on staff—some teachers currently have class loads of over 40 students. Other teachers have to teach during their prep periods… Seems to me that this isn’t Rhee’s fault, rather it’s a symptom of legislation (NCLB) that creates hardships as such. Finding highly-qualified special education teachers is a bear—across the country. And teachers that don’t have proper endorsements for their subject areas have to go back and take exams like the PRAXIS. I obtained a K-8 certificate with a Masters in Education. But under the NCLB legislation, I am only highly qualified to teach social studies and language arts, as that is where I had been teaching before the law was passed. So if my principal wanted me to teach math, let’s say, I would have to pass the PRAXIS in math, or I would need to take 45 credits to get a math endorsement… The burden that NCLB put on our education system as a whole should be receiving more press.
It is unfortunate that Rhee is getting the blame for this one. Rhetoric could sink this ship... I'm going to keep an eye on D.C.
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