The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing had a tough choice to make--so it delayed the decision until December. The question is whether it will remain permissible for California's low-income Title I schools to employ teachers with emergency permits, even though all Title I schools are required to have only "highly qualified teachers" by this school year. The CTC could ban the use of teachers with emergency certification but administrators from affected schools say that they would have to fire much of their math, science, and special ed staff and replace them with substitutes, who can only teach 30 days at a time.

Of course, the entire problem could be solved if California were to reexamine its certification rules, expanding the pool of talent that it is willing to consider perhaps by adopting the American Board tests.