THE EDUCATION FRONT

The Bush Institute holds its first education seminar today. The subject is educational leadership. Here is an interview I did for our Sunday Points section with James Guthrie, who is the institute's senior fellow for education studies.

I'm particularly interested in the question of whether good teachers are naturally that way, or whether they are the product of years of training. What's your thought?

Also, I'm interested in whether it's possible for a superintendent to be good at both finances and academics. What's your thought?

A couple of weeks ago we started a conversation about how to move big urban districts beyond pockets of excellence. As part of that discussion, let me throw out this question:

What would it take to attract some of our top college students into teaching?

I'm not saying all of the top students have the ability to teach, nor am I saying we only attract crummy students into teaching. But let's be honest: We don't have the same level of competition in college for future teachers that we have for doctor wannabes, up-and-coming business entrepreneurs or prospective engineering candidates.

I'm interested in hearing what it would take to change that equation, to get more leading students into teaching. Surely, one thing would be to help them learn how to teach. Beyond that, what else? A strong career plan? Promises of quality professional development? Better pay or economic incentives for classroom success?

I'd like to hear your ideas, especially from teachers. I don't want this to become a diatribe against young whippersnappers coming into teaching or a rant against the teaching profession. I'm looking for constructive ideas about improving the pipeline of teachers.

To me, a steady supply of quality teachers seems like one of the first essentials a district needs to move beyond pockets of excellence.

The fact that the U.S. Department of Education has informed the Texas Education Agency that first-year elementary school teachers must pass a broad exam to be considered "highly qualified" will not go down easily with some teachers. But this is a good move by Washington, if you think kids, especially in poor inner city schools, deserve decent teachers.

The DMN's Terry Stutz reported this story last week. The TEA said then, and recounted to me yesterday, that the agency was surprised by the ruling. Evidently, the feds had never seen a problem with Texas' teaching corps in the past.

But the No Child Left Behind Law requires teachers to be certified as highly qualified. And hallelujah for that. Improving the teacher corps is one way to make sure that every child can learn at grade level. Meeting that goal will never be easy, but we can be assured of this: Students will not get there without good teachers.

To his credit, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been making a huge deal out of improving the quality of teachers. He talked about this once again in a speech last week at Columbia University, where he challenged schools of education to turn out better teachers. That takes guts given the power of teacher unions in some parts of the country. But he and President Obama show no signs of backing down.

As far as the Texas situation goes, TEA spokesperson Debbie Ratcliffe told me yesterday that the agency is drafting a response. It has about 30 days to get one in, and the agency is considering asking for a compromise: Let first year teachers off the hook this year for passing the "generalist" exam that would show whether they are qualified to teach in more than one subject. In return, the agency will require all first year teachers in the 2010-2011 school year to pass the exam.

That sounds reasonable. The state's not off the hook, but it wouldn't have to administer the test at least one-third of the way through the school year. We're now in late October, it will take the TEA some time to file its response and then for the feds to consider it. We could be talking mid-December. And, Ratcliffe says, districts will start canceling contracts for low-performing teachers in March. The bottom line is there may not be much utility in administering the test this school year.

(As far as Dallas goes, DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander told me late yesterday that the district has about 75 teachers who would be eligible for this test. DISD's preparing to offer them training for the test and the exam itself, if they must this school year.)

I hope Washington accepts the TEA's compromise. But I also hope the feds keep the pressure on.

Teachers and administrators may hate having to deal with this certification exam, but they aren't the ones who should be our first concern. Students sitting in classrooms where teachers aren't qualified enough to teach deserve first ranking.

I often enjoy the essay on the last page of the New York Times Magazine each Sunday. It's usually a moving slice of life that only takes a few minutes to read and yet sparks hours of lingering thoughts or images in the days/weeks to come....

Last Sunday's was an example of that. Go here to enjoy Michelle Kuo's essay on The Lost Student. It describes the difference an idealist teacher can make in a troubled youth's life, and the difference she can't. It left me, perversely, both sad and hopeful, those emotions all tangled up together.

What do you think?