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GUEST: Solomon Rivera, Executive Director of Californians for Justice, Long Beach

Californians for Justice are leading a federal suit against the U.S. Government. The lawsuit argues that teachers are not being prepared to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. Signed by Bush in January 2002, No Child Left Behind focused on standardized testing as the central strategy to improve school performance. Unstated in the act and left up to to local schools and agencies is how to deal with structural issues effecting education including over-sized classrooms, poor and crumbling facilities, lack of books and supplies, and of course a shortage of properly trained teachers. Urban schools in particular have struggled to meet the teacher credentialing aspect of the law as large urban campuses suffer from high teacher turnover rates. To meet this need the State’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing decided to include teachers who enroll in internship programs sponsored by school districts and universities to qualify for a teaching certificate. Californians for Justice contend that the teachers in the individualized program get less training and oversight than other interns do, making them highly qualified in name only. The program has credentialed over 2,800 teachers between 2002 to 2004.

For more information visit, www.caljustice.org