FOR RELEASE
Contact: Julie Green
(202) 401-3026
March 24, 1998
HOUSE COMMITTEE REJECTS SUPPORT FOR TEACHER STANDARDS BOARD;
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today called a House move to withdraw federal support from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) "a tragic mistake," and said, "This retreat from excellence must be reversed."
In approving a bill last week to extend the Higher Education Act for another five years, The House Committee on Education and the Workforce voted to strip funds from the board certification process -- a move Riley said would weaken efforts to assure that teachers are well-qualified.
"This should not be a partisan issue," Riley said. "State leaders of both parties support the National Board. My predecessor Lamar Alexander is an advocate for certification." The former Bush administration education secretary recently said, "We need to raise standards for teachers," and the national board process is "the best evaluation available now for teachers."
Created in 1987, the 63-member NBPTS has developed assessments that measure the skills and knowledge of teachers in seven specialties.
The voluntary certification process takes a full school year to complete and includes not only written examinations and student work samples, but also observation of actual performance in the classroom. As President Clinton has said, these are "the teachers who have willingly opened their practice to rigorous examination and provided us with models of exemplary teaching."
The administration has requested $21 million for the coming fiscal year to support higher teacher standards and to help states, local schools and teachers defray the costs of the rigorous certification process.
"Identifying and rewarding excellence in teaching is a great way to boost quality in our nation's schools," Riley said. "Why in the world would the House Committee on Education and the Workforce give up on helping America's best teachers stay in the classroom?"
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