Cost of excellence

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Public school students in Pemiscot County in Missouri's Bootheel had about a one-in-three chance of being taught by an uncertified teacher during the previous school year. In Clayton, by contrast, the chance of having an uncertified teacher was only 1 percent. In the city of St. Louis, it was 15 percent, according to state figures.

Improving teacher qualifications is a key part of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative. The federal government is gradually requiring states to ensure that all teachers have at least a bachelor's degree, state certification and proven mastery of core academic subjects such as reading, math and science.

The process won't be simple, cheap or short, considering the wide disparities that exist in teacher quality among the states. In Alaska, for example, only 16 percent of the classes are taught by certified instructors. Wisconsin ranks near the top, with 99 percent of its teachers qualified. Missouri reports that 95 percent of its teachers are highly qualified. ...

This year's report by Education Week shows -- not surprisingly -- that teachers in schools with high concentrations of poor students aren't as experienced and don't know as much about the subjects they teach. Poor urban districts can't pay as well as their more affluent suburban counterparts. That, and the challenges of teaching poor children, make it harder to attract and retain the most highly qualified teachers. ...

As with so much of the No Child Left Behind Law, the idea of requiring every teacher in America to be highly qualified, certified and competent to teach a given subject is a no-brainer. But unless schools have sufficient financial support from the federal government -- money for all the testing, college courses, books, training and time off that thousands of underpaid, overworked teachers will need -- the struggle to level the playing field will drag on. ...