A recent addition to the Ohio Department of Education's Web site now allows parents to find the teaching credentials for any teacher in any school district in the state. The Web site, however, is not necessarily a needed benefit for many parents with students in school districts across Athens County.
The intended benefit of the Web page is to allow parents to make sure their child's teacher is highly qualified under the guidelines created by the No Child Left Behind Act of January 2002. A highly qualified teacher must hold a degree from an accredited college and pass Ohio's licensing exam, ODE spokeswoman Marilyn Braatz said.
A teacher also must hold an academic degree in the area in which he or she is teaching or have completed at least 30 semester credit hours in that area, Braatz said.
But because many schools in Athens County receive Title I funding, parents already are notified if a teacher is not highly qualified under No Child Left Behind's federal standards, said Jack Loudin, superintendent for Trimble Local School District.
So (the Web page) is actually redundant
he said.
Title I is an additional funding source administered to schools in high poverty areas, Braatz said. Under Title I, a letter is required to be sent home to parents if a teacher who is not highly qualified has taught their child for four consecutive weeks or more.
All districts receive funding from Title I, but not every school in each district receives the funding. For example, Athens City School District receives money from Title I for only three elementary schools - Chauncey Elementary, The Plains Elementary and West Elementary. The middle schools and high school do not receive the extra funding, Athens Superintendent Carl Martin said.
Schools not awarded Title I are not required by law to notify parents if a teacher who is not highly qualified is teaching their child. So the Web site, which is one of several similar sites offered across the nation, is useful to schools because it no longer makes schools the first point of contact, Braatz said.
The site offers both state licensing information and the school district where the teacher was last employed, Braatz said. Schools are required to report regardless of whether or not they receive Title I funding.
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