Onerous mandate

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A federal mandate requiring that all special education teachers be "highly qualified" by 2006 is unrealistic and should be substantially altered.

Most likely, "highly qualified" would mean that special ed teachers would have to be certified in special education. That's certainly a worthwhile goal, but it's a struggle for most school districts to hire teachers certified in special education. At the beginning of this school year, schools across the state had more than 110 special education vacancies, and 75 special education classes were headed by a long-term substitute.

In the 2001-2002 school year, 805 of the 1,349 out-of-field teaching permits given to teachers in South Carolina were for special education. Those 805 teachers probably could not be designated as "highly qualified." That's unfortunate but the alternative would be substitute teachers.

Special ed teachers face more challenges than most other educators. Too few prospective educators feel the calling to become special ed teachers. And special ed teachers have a high turnover rate. More than 2,000 teachers in South Carolina last year were certified in special education but were not in a special ed classroom. That's a remarkable comment on the burnout factor in special education.

President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act contains many positive components for helping young people escape chronically failing schools. Bush is right that every classroom should have a "highly qualified" teacher. But that should remain a goal only, not a federal rule that presumably will contain punitive measures for states that do not meet the unrealistic mandate.