A new rule passed by the North Carolina State Board of Education imposes serious penalties on charter schools that do not meet requirements for teacher certification. The state requires that 75 percent of charter elementary school teachers and 50 percent of middle and high school charter teachers must be certified, and will now begin to withhold state funds from schools that fall short. The state is playing hard ball: first withholding money from the headmaster's salary, then non-certified teachers' salaries, and ultimately recommending non-compliant schools be closed.

Unfortunately, the state is taking this tough stance on an issue that has little impact on teacher quality or student achievement. While there are a few studies that show some marginal value to traditional certification, most research does not support current systems of licensure. Kane and Staiger, for example, found no meaningful difference in student achievement between certified and non-certified teachers in their 2005 study of teachers in Los Angeles.

North Carolina's actions might be defensible if there were evidence that charter schools with fewer certified teachers had lower student achievement. But student success or failure does not appear to factor into whether or not schools get fined. The state is adding misguided complexity to the very schools that are supposed to be freed from unnecessary bureaucracy.