As the President and Congress promise to "Leave No Child Behind," many young people across LA County lack access to the most fundamental precondition of learning—a quality teacher. In 448 LA County schools, at least 30% of the teachers are uncredentialed. At some schools, the figures are far worse: 52% uncredentialed at 116th St in LAUSD, 65% uncredentialed at Abbott Elementary in Lynwood and 85% uncredentialed at Francis Willard Elementary in Compton. It is no coincidence that these four schools serve low-income communities of color. Schools with high levels of uncredentialed teachers are concentrated in LA County’s poorest communities.
Why does this matter? Certainly, a number of highly capable and committed individuals enter teaching without a credential and contribute substantially to their students’ development. Yet, research clearly shows that students whose teachers completed teacher education programs substantially outperform students whose teachers enter the profession with no training. But the real issue at hand is the effect of large concentrations of uncredentialed teachers in particular schools. Most uncredentialed teachers are new to teaching and leave the profession within three years. When a third or more of a school’s faculty lacks a full teaching credential, there is constant turn-over in the staff, little opportunity for professional development, and unstable relationships with the school’s students and parents.
What should be done? The newly enacted "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" mandates that districts hire only "highly qualified" teachers and that all teachers will be "highly qualified" by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Yet there is little support or guidance in the Federal law to insure that this goal becomes a reality in LA County and California generally. Fortunately, a set of recent reports by non-partisan groups as well as advocacy organizations points to four policies that can make the rhetoric real. First, focus attention and resources on attracting fully qualified and committed teachers to the hardest to staff schools. Second, expand the pipeline into teaching, with programs that support more residents of low-income communities of color through college and teacher training programs. Third, provide meaningful professional development and support for new and experienced teachers to encourage teacher retention and growth. Fourth, create safe and healthy conditions in schools and insure that all students have a meaningful opportunity to learn. In this sense, the solution to the teacher crisis lies with the full enactment of a Students’ Bill of Rights.
What can you do? Insuring quality teachers for LA’s children requires an engaged public that holds local, state, and federal officials accountable for leaving no child behind. Here are a few ideas that have emerged from recent efforts of Parent U-Turn in Lynwood, the African-American and Latino Parent Groups at Santa Monica High School, and CADRE (Community Asset Development Re-Defining Education) in South-Central Los Angeles.
- Gather information about teacher preparation in your school and community. (Click here for a step-by-step guide)
- Hold discussions at your school site about the conditions you find.
- Ask students and parents to define the attributes and skills of quality teachers.
- Read the work on this web site and our linked policy reports and develop your own plan of action.
- Go to your local district and ask officials to explain their plan and their timeline for insuring quality teachers at your school. (You may want to refer to the questions that the National Education Association has developed for parents).
- Meet with officials from LA County Office of Education, Teacher Recruitment Center, local CSU and UC Teacher Education Programs, and local Teacher Unions to determine what they more they might do to insure access to quality teachers at your school.
- Invite your state Assembly member and Senator to a forum about what should be done to insure access to quality teachers.
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