LOCAL CONTROL FOR TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS

Several states that have imposed testing standards for would-be teachers are making a sad discovery: Many college graduates who have met all the educational and certification requirement to become teachers can't pass basic tests that cover reading, writing and mathematics.

In Virginia, which sets a high standard for testing future teachers, a third of those taking a test -- used in 20 states -- failed.

While that failure rate is alarming, it points to other problems and raises serious questions. For example, how do college graduates who perform so poorly on these tests slip through at least 16 years of formal education?

Another question: What standards do colleges that grant teaching degrees set for students in their programs?

The flaws in a system where would-be teachers are granted teaching degrees without being able to pass general-knowledge tests goes beyond the institutions that grant those degrees. High schools are graduating far too many students who haven't mastered basic learning. And elementary schools are sending too many poorly prepared students into high school classes.

Some high-minded bureaucrats go so far as blaming the poor performance of college graduates with teaching degrees on what they call the low pay of the teaching profession. This is nonsense, of course, because teacher salaries aren't that low when viewed together with any number of careers that require college degrees. And such a broad condemnation of young teachers is a slap in the face of hardworking Americans everywhere. Are we to believe that only stupid people take low-paying jobs? Of course not.

Some bureaucrats also think that imposing state standards for the teaching profession is the best way to overcome this problem. Unfortunately, they would impose the standards on the future teachers, not the colleges and universities -- many of which are state supported -- that grant the degrees.

But the real burden rests not with state or federal standards. The accountability for hiring teachers that have a grasp of basic knowledge rests squarely on local school administrators and school boards who hire teachers every year. This means that standards might well vary from district to district. That's the way it should be -- as long as each district can satisfy students and their parents than only qualified teachers are in the classroom.