Lansingburgh Central School District

The NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT of 2001 is a federal law to improve education for all children. It holds schools responsible for results, gives parents greater choices, and promotes teaching methods that work.

All children deserve well-prepared teachers. Well-prepared teachers know what to teach and how to teach. They have mastered the subject matter that they are teaching. Under NCLB, all school districts and charter schools must make sure that all teachers in core academic subjects are highly qualified. For NCLB, core academic subjects are English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.

What highly qualified means.

“Highly qualified” means that your child’s teacher must have a bachelor’s degree and be fully certified by the State of New York. Your child’s teachers must also pass state tests or meet comparable requirements for the grades and the subjects they are teaching. Under NCLB, schools that receive Title I federal funds may only hire new teachers if they are highly qualified.

You have the right to know if your child’s teacher is highly qualified.

At the beginning of each school year, school districts and charter schools receiving Title I funds must let parents know their rights. One of these is the right to know the professional qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers. Such information must include:

• Whether a teacher has State certification for the grade levels and subjects he or she is teaching;
• The teacher’s baccalaureate degree major and any other certifications or degrees; and
• Whether their child receives services from paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

Schools receiving Title I funds must also give parents timely notice:

• If their child has been assigned to a teacher of a core academic subject who is not “highly qualified,” or
• If their child has been taught for four or more weeks in a row by a teacher of a core academic subject who is not “highly qualified.”

Paraprofessional Qualifications

All newly hired paraprofessionals providing instructional support in Title I programs must have a high school diploma or GED. They must also have at least two years of college or an associate’s degree, or pass a test chosen by their local school district.

Paraprofessionals working solely as translators or solely in programs to involve parents must have a high school diploma or GED. They do not have to meet the rest of the paraprofessional requirements.

If you have a question regarding the qualifications of a teacher, contact the school principal or the Superintendent of Schools.