Lack of teacher quality.

No state is meeting a particular requirement under the No Child Left Behind law, which calls for every teacher in core subjects to be highly qualified, and the National Education Association claims the requirement is not fair.

Although the deadline to comply just passed, the NEA has asked the U.S. DOE to extend the deadline to give states more assistance, and clearly define for all parties what is needed to meet the requirements.

NEA officials have also claimed the highly qualified provision has changed various times since the law was enacted over four years ago. And three states, including Connecticut and Minnesota, were told their definitions of highly qualified teachers weren't adequate, leaving many teachers in limbo.

"We share the department's goal of having every child taught by a highly qualified teacher, but it is unrealistic and unfair to expect teachers to meet the criteria when the rules and regulations keep changing," says NEA President Reg Weaver. Aside from the changes, "it fails to acknowledge that most middle school social studies teachers have a license or certification in social studies. It is common for many of these teachers to teach history, government, civics or other social studies disciplines but they do not necessarily have a degree or certification in each of those subjects."

The department explained that nine states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico need revised plans by July 7 to meet the requirement and may face sanctions, such as losing federal money. Another 29 states made some progress but must submit a revised plan and another 12 states were told the monitoring process was not yet complete and a final rating was not given. Those states also must submit revised plans detailing the specific steps to reach the goal in the coming school year.

Assistant Secretary Henry Johnson says the department is not giving an exemption, but rather, is identifying where states are in the process. "The good news today is that states are taking it seriously and implementing it," says Rene Islas, chief of staff for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. "This is an opportunity for states to put clear plans in place, to make sure teachers are supported to be highly qualified and to make sure students are getting highly qualified teachers."

Seven states are actively distributing higher qualified teachers to more minority and high poverty schools, where the highest needs are, as opposed to low poverty schools, Islas says.