NEA Leader Assails L.A. Over ‘Blatant’ Teacher Recruiting

Many of the nation’s school districts are responding to the crisis of teacher shortages by hiring unqualified applicants, and the practice is most “blatant” in Los Angeles, the head of the largest teachers union charged Wednesday.

Mary Hatwood Futrell, president of the National Education Assn., lambasted the easing of teacher certification laws and vowed to use the power of the 1.7-million-member association to combat the trend, in which a number of states allow college graduates without degrees in education to teach while they earn teaching credentials through emergency programs.

The practice has grown in response to the rising need for new teachers--a need caused largely by the increased numbers of elementary school-age children and the decline in the teaching profession’s popularity. Education experts estimate that by 1990, for example, several hundred thousand new teachers will be required nationwide annually.

The emergency certification programs “make a mockery of the education reform movement” and a “sham out of efforts to improve the teaching profession,” Futrell said at a news conference. “We will not accept any relaxation of standards that will open the floodgates for toning down other educational standards.”

Blistering Attack

As part of her blistering attack on the programs, Futrell cited several jurisdictions, including New York City, New Jersey and Texas, as having recruited unqualified teachers. At least 35 states have either relaxed certification standards or are considering it, she said.

But Futrell reserved her harshest criticism for Los Angeles, saying: “Nowhere is the lowering of teacher standards more blatant” than there.

She displayed a poster she said is used by “desperate teacher recruiters in Los Angeles.” It reads: “Want to teach but have no credential? Relax. We can help you get your teaching credential while you work full-time as a junior or senior high school teacher. . . .”

However, several officials in school systems with emergency certification programs defended the practice, saying that their programs exceed state certification requirements and are the best way to meet shortages--particularly in bilingual education, mathematics and science fields.

L.A. Official Replies

Michael P. Acosta, director of recruitment and selection for the Los Angeles school system, said that half the district’s 2,500 new teachers are being hired under emergency status. He said they are tested and screened thoroughly, required to enroll in education classes and evaluated twice a year as they seek accreditation.

The addition of the emergency credentialed personnel helped the Los Angeles district to become one of the few large urban districts to have enough teachers to staff its classrooms for the fall opening of school. The district has offered teaching contracts to 2,800 persons.

In contrast, New York City may be short 2,700 instructors and Dallas still has a few vacancies to fill after it hired 600 teachers.

In Houston, Associate Supt. B. Strader said the 200 people enrolled in her school system’s new program meet “much higher standards” than those set for graduates of teaching programs. Critics such as Futrell simply are “not acquainted with how stiff our requirements are,” she said.

Futrell was unconvinced, however. Calling the certification controversy “a top NEA concern,” Futrell:

- Urged parents to demand that school officials say which schools have uncertified teachers and how many there are.

- Suggested that certificated teachers post their framed certificates in classrooms, “like doctors and lawyers and other professionals, to let the public know who is qualified to teach.”

- Called on states to consider legislation to prevent hiring of uncertified applicants.

- Urged the Department of Education to establish “a national clearinghouse” to help states locate graduates of accredited teacher programs.