States await federal review on quality of their teachers

Once again NCLB raises its ugly head as States await federal review on quality of their teachers - The Boston Globe. "Skepticism remains over whether states have inflated their quality numbers by setting easy standards for veteran teachers. Some states have allowed teachers to qualify based on conferences attended, awards won, years taught, and other accumulated experience," according to the article. Why should anyone be surprised? When standards are created that are, at best, unreasoned then why should anyone even blink when some try to find ways around strict compliance. The fact is that, as in all professions, some teachers are better than others. To pretend that by passing a law that requires teachers to be 'highly qualified' that the quality of teaching will automatically increase is, at the very best, naive and, at the very worst, a cynical ploy to destroy public education in the United States. I think there is probably a bit of both going on. That some states have found ways around the existing regulations should come as no shock to an administration that lied about WMDs in Iraq, creates political leaks that violate Federal Law, and threaten to use nucluar weapons (I believe these qualify as WMDs) on Iran to keep them from developing nuclear weapons themselves. That we live in a climate of irony laced with immoral political behavior only makes the actions of states to insure compliance with a bad law by seeking the easy road, all the more believable.

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