We consistently have outlined five clear goals for policymakers to strengthen the state’s teaching force.

• Every student will have a fully prepared and effective teacher.
• Every district will be able to attract and retain fully qualified, effective teachers.
• Every teacher will work in a safe, clean facility conducive to learning; have adequate materials with which to teach; and have the guidance and support of a capable leader.
• Every pathway into teaching will provide high-quality preparation and be based upon California’s standards for what students and teachers should know and be able to do.
• All teachers will receive high-quality support as they begin teaching, as well as professional development to ensure that they stay current in their fields.

Despite some marginal progress, the state has a very long way to go to turn these goals from rhetoric to reality. California has a massive budget deficit that policymakers understandably will argue makes it difficult to stay focused on strengthening the teaching force.

While we understand that argument, it should not be used as an excuse to deny every student a fully qualified and effective teacher. We believe:

• Policymakers should apply at least as much energy and debate to ensuring that every student has a qualified and effective teacher as they will apply to dealing with the budget deficit. The education of millions of California’s children cannot be put in abeyance while the deficit is solved.
• The State Board of Education should review the immediate application of the high-stakes consequences of the high school exit exam for California students at a time when many districts and schools cannot guarantee qualified and effective teachers as well as other factors that assure students an adequate opportunity to meet the state’s graduation requirements.
• Policymakers should accelerate by one year the staffing requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for schools in the bottom 20 percent of the state’s Academic Performance Index. Starting in the 2003–04 school year, these approximately 1,500 schools would not be allowed to employ any teachers who were serving with emergency credentials or as preinterns.

These are difficult tasks, and they are not proposed lightly. The crisis in our schools is becoming a true disaster. It threatens the future of millions of children and the state’s economy.

To do less than this would be morally wrong.