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No U.S. States Meet NCLB Qualifications

A promise made by President Bush`s education law to have a highly qualified teacher in every core class has failed. Not one state met the requirement to have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified by 2006. Nine states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, face penalties: Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington.

The No Child Left Behind law requires teachers to have a bachelor`s degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by 2006. Officials say the above states and territories face the loss of federal aid because they did not try to comply on time. Henry Johnson, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, said, "At some point there was, I suspect, a little bit of notion that `This too shall pass`... Well, the day of reckoning is here, and it`s not going to pass."

Rene Islas, who oversees the department`s review, says many states failed to meet their goals because they did not submit accurate or complete data about the quality of teachers. The Education Department ordered every state on Friday to explain how it will have all of its core teachers qualified, after the deadline, in the 2006-07 school year.