Dept. of
Education Statement
Regarding No Child Left Behind Requirements for
Paraprofessionals
U. S. Department of Education, June 17, 2005
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Questions and answers
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Deputy Secretary
of Education Ray Simon today issued the following statement
regarding No Child Left Behind and the time frame within which
all paraprofessionals working in Title I-funded programs must
meet certain qualifications.
"No Child Left Behind is built upon a promise: all children
deserve the opportunity to learn from a highly qualified
teacher. The law states that all teachers and paraprofessionals
must be highly qualified. Teachers must demonstrate their
competency by the end of the 2005-06 school year.
Paraprofessionals must show competency no later than four years
after the law's enactment, or January 8, 2006, which is the
middle of the school year.
"It's unusual to have a deadline in the middle of the school
year, and we believe that the paraprofessional and highly
qualified teacher provisions should be consistent. The
Department will continue to be supportive of states, school
districts and schools, in implementing these particular
requirements. Therefore, the Department will align its
monitoring and enforcement efforts of states for both the highly
qualified teacher and paraprofessional provisions of the law.
This will ensure a more efficient, effective and coordinated
method of monitoring state efforts in these areas while ensuring
that all children are provided with the resources the law
provides them."
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