Apr 29, 2009 10:47 pm US/Eastern
Are Your Kids Being Taught By Unlicensed Teachers?
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
So who is teaching our kids? Are they qualified? These are questions any parent would ask.
The I-TEAM has been investigating and what they uncovered could impact your kid.
Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve found out our public schools have hired thousands of teachers who are not properly licensed.
As your child heads off to school, do you know if a licensed teacher will be waiting for them in the classroom?
Or is your child's teacher working with a waiver?
Parents outside a Brookline elementary school couldn't answer the question.
"Have you heard about waivers or how they are used?" Shortsleeve asked.
One mother responded, "I have not. I am embarrassed to say... perhaps I should."
The I-TEAM has been asking a lot of questions about teacher credentials. It started in March when we learned about Donna Byrnes, a Worcester school department administrator, who was given a job as a special education teacher, even though she had absolutely no training and wasn't licensed.
How did it happen? She was granted what's known as a "waiver" by the State Department of Education. In simple terms it means you can teach even though you are not licensed by the state. It's considered an emergency situation.
Sounds like it would be a rare circumstance, but that is not what the ITEAM found.
For example, when it came to special education Donna Byrnes was just one of 1,520 waivers issued to "special education" teachers last year.
And it doesn't stop there.
Other troubled areas are math and science. Last year the ITEAM found the state granted 417 waivers to fill those positions.
And when you add up all the waivers in all subject areas -- and some administrative positions -- statewide there were 3,140 emergencies.
Waivers cover school nurses and assistant principals as well.
Mitchell Chester is the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education.
"I don't think the system is broken, but I do think we need to do better," Chester said.
In a recent interview at his Malden office, Shortsleeve asked the state's top educator, "As a professional educator are you comfortable with the number of waivers in use in this state?"
Chester answered, "I would much prefer to see a fully licensed teacher in each one of our classrooms."
And so would Professor Stephan Ellenwood, who is the Chairman of Boston University School of Education.
He says students taught by uncertified teachers are being short changed.
"None of us would like the brakes on our car fixed by someone who had no supervised training, yet in effect, that is what we are doing in our schools with children," Ellenwood said.
The ITEAM found some communities were in double digits, even suburban systems like Needham needed 19, Peabody used 30 and Brookline had 44.
Larger districts had the most, Worcester 45, Quincy 104 and Boston 204.
Professor Ellenwood at Boston University says, "If I were a parent that would cause me to knock on the principal's door and say tell me what is going on here!"
The ITEAM found of the more than 3,000 waivered teachers last year, 75 percent of them were like Donna Byrnes in Worcester with no teaching license. That is more than 2,300.
The rest had some credentials but were not qualified for their subject area.
Education Commissioner Chester says fixing this problem is a top priority. Why?
"Because with a full licensed teacher we have the quality assurance," he said.
Some school superintendents point out that some waivered teachers are very talented and that waivers allow people who are changing careers to lead a class until they are fully licensed.
However, for the most part, few people defend the waiver system, saying it is only necessary because there is a shortage nation wide of fully qualified individuals especially in less affluent communities.
The education commissioner thinks because of our recession this problem to about to get worse.
He reasons as school systems lay off people administrators will be asking the remaining staff to work in subject areas where they are not licensed.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Academic Waivers granted for 2007-08 School Year, by school district
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