Los Angeles grapples with high number of underqualified teachers

LOS ANGELES - Three years ago, Xochitl Rodriguez left her human resources job and decided she wanted to teach. Without classroom experience or teaching courses, Rodriguez was hired by the Los Angeles Unified School District and placed in charge of 20 kindergartners.

As she walked into the Parthenia Elementary School, she was scared by the thought ''of being responsible for so many kids.'' She began taking teaching courses at night and attended occasional workshops.

Rodriguez's situation was not unusual for the nation's second-largest school district. Educators say a lack of qualified teachers for the 711,000 students is one of the district's gravest problems, particularly for poor and minority students.

The problem is shared by New York, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and other major cities, said Michael Pons, spokesman for the National Education Association.

Of Los Angeles' 35,100 teachers, nearly one-fourth lack the coursework and in-class experience required to obtain a permit. District officials say most of these teachers are assigned to low-income communities.

''The very children who need a fully qualified, effective teacher the most are the least likely to get one,'' said Margaret Gaston, co-director of the Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning.

The district says little can be done. It checks candidates' education backgrounds and references, but is largely powerless to prevent the most qualified teachers from choosing to teach at the least troubled schools.

''We cannot do a forced transfer of a teacher,'' said Superintendent Roy Romer. ''It's something we have to encourage with incentives.''

The issue prompted statewide legislation in July and September. It offers incentives for people to go into - or return to - teaching in poor-performing schools. It provides block grants to school districts to pay for incentives, including signing bonuses, pay raises and housing subsidies for teachers.

Romer, the former governor of Colorado, hopes to improve recruitment to keep the problem from getting worse. In Los Angeles, enrollment is growing by about 10,000 students a year.

In 1998-1999, 75 percent of the district's new hires lacked credentials; this year, the figure is 57 percent.

Regular credentials require education courses, an exam and experience as a student teacher, while an emergency permit requires only a college degree and a basic skills test. Romer said city schools could not function without the lesser standard.

''We wouldn't have classroom staff if we didn't have this,'' he said. ''We can't get along without it. An emergency credential doesn't mean a bad teacher, it just means inexperienced.''

John Perez, a Los Angeles high school teacher, said that is exactly the problem.

''The emergency permit system is terrible,'' said Perez, a vice president for the teachers' union.

''They don't know what they're doing,'' he said. ''They don't have the background in education, in child development. It took me five years to learn how to teach, and it took me another five years to perfect what I learned in the first five years.''

At Parthenia, in a working-class neighborhood, 37 percent of the teachers have emergency permits. Most of the school's 950 students are Hispanic and more than 75 percent participate in the lunch program for low-income children.

Lisa Gennovario, whose son is a second-grader, was shocked to hear the number of underqualified teachers.

''It's not right,'' she said. ''This school needs quality teachers. And I also believe they should tell the parents.'' Many schools don't inform parents of teachers' experience.''

Gennovario, 38, said her son often comes home with piles of homework he doesn't understand. Although she doesn't blame the staff, she said, ''I just don't feel he's getting what he needs.''

Many of Parthenia's uncredentialed teachers came in 1998 when the school switched to a year-around schedule and added 16 positions. Principal Marcia Jackman needed bilingual teachers and hired some Spanish-speaking candidates even though they did not have teaching permits.

Jackman said the emergency teachers are effective and earnest.

''Some are born to teach and they're wonderful,'' she said. ''They just don't have their papers.''

After three years, Rodriguez, now 28, has become comfortable in the classroom - to an extent.

''I feel I have to work twice as hard to prove I'm giving the students the maximum,'' she said.

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On the Net:

Los Angeles Unified School District: http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us

National Education Association: http://www.nea.org

The Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning: http://www.cftl.org