9th Circuit finds Calif calls interns ‘highly qualified’ teachers, dumps them on poor schools

Court finds Calif dumping interns on poor schools

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has ruled that California illegally classified interns as “highly qualified” teachers and assigned them to schools in low-income and minority areas.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in favor of poor families who claimed the state was dumping uncredentialed teachers on their schools.

A Bush administration policy adopted by a California commission held that interns on track to receive teaching certification could count as “highly qualified.”

The court found that those policies violated the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires teachers to have full state certification to teach core subjects.

Evidence cited by the court showed 62 percent of the interns teach in the poorest half of California schools.