A White House proposal to bring math, science, and engineering professionals into public high schools to teach those subjects could bypass the "highly qualified" teacher mandate under No Child Left Behind, while only temporarily easing the shortfall of mathematics and science teachers, education observers say. President Bush's fiscal 2007 budget seeks $25 million for the Adjunct Teacher Corps. It would encourage 30,000 experienced professionals by 2015 to become adjunct teachers and would provide instruction in high-need schools on a relatively short-term basis. Those individuals, though, could bump up against the federal education law, which requires that all new teachers of core subjects have a standard license from the state and demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter. They can meet the latter requirement by passing a test in the subject they intend to teach or by earning a college major in it. Meanwhile, the budget description of the adjunct-teacher program says that "instead of the usual focus on certification or licensure of such individuals, the initiative would concentrate on helping schools find experienced professionals."

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/03/01/25bush-adjunct.h25.html (subscription required)

Published Friday, Mar. 10, 2006