Another area of contention was the lack of highly qualified teachers. According to Simon, only 82.2 percent of core academic classes are taught by highly qualified teachers, which is below the national average of 94.3 percent.
Maxwell lamented about the lack of a pool of highly qualified teachers. He added that universities are not producing large numbers of highly qualified teachers and that local school systems are being held responsible for it.
"All we can do is hire what is there," Maxwell said last night after the discussion ended. "It would be great if our colleges and universities could produce enough teachers for us."
After the discussion, Grasmick explained that Maryland public schools hire 7,000 to 8,000 new teachers a year. Only 1,600 of those teachers are a product of Maryland colleges and universities, Grasmick said.
Howard County's superintendent, Dr. Sydney L. Cousin, questioned the fairness of testing students from foreign countries who are learning English.
Education research shows that it takes five to seven years for foreign-born students to become fluent enough to take tests in English, yet No Child Left Behind gives foreign-born students a one-year waiver before applying their test scores as part of a local school's achievement, Cousin said.
Other comments included: the need for the federal government to provide more funding at the local school level, finding a way to better share best practices among all school systems, and rebuilding the reputation of schools that are labeled "persistently dangerous."
Grasmick said she was pleased with the questions that the educators asked.
"I thought they put into context some of the issues they have been grappling with," Grasmick said.
john-john.williams@baltsun.com
