As all states must, Pennsylvania is trying to cope with that nagging NCLB requirement that special ed teachers can't just know a lot about special ed but actually have to understand the subject they're teaching. Most states are telling their current teachers that if they're certified, they're highly qualified. This definition spells trouble when applied to special ed teachers. It sets up an excessively burdensome scenario that requires special ed teachers to seek certification in multiple subject areas to continue teaching under the law-- with any one subject area requiring 10 or so college courses.

Since states aren't going to send special ed teachers back to earn two, three, or four more college majors, they either have to rewrite their certification requirements to comply with the law or stop assigning special ed teachers to multiple subjects. Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania has decided on the former, since the latter option would require a glut of special ed teachers just waiting to be hired and the funding to hire them.

What may not be as understandable was how low Pennsylvania stooped to get itself out of this quandary and what is says about our expectations for children who enter the special ed pit. With the new regulation, special ed teachers are considered "highly qualified" if they have taken only one college course in the subject and have passed an elementary-level Praxis test. The move sends an unfortunate signal that the state doesn't expect much at all out of these classrooms. Given the scandalous numbers of children in the United States who land in special ed for reasons that have far more to do with poor reading instruction than innate ability, the expectation is tragic.