District 97’s non-certified foreign language teachers have until the start of the school year this fall to receive their certification or risk termination.
Letters were sent out two weeks into December to Spanish teachers in the FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) program. Teachers in the program still working toward their degrees, or with a teaching certificate, have until the end of the current school year to receive their full certification, according to the teacher’s three-year contract. This is the third year of the contract.
The teachers were allowed to teach in the FLES program until they were certified. Of the nine FLES teachers, four are not fully certified and were working toward finishing their degrees, said Kevin Anderson, District 97’s asst. supt. for teaching and learning.
Anderson said all nine of the district’s foreign language teachers have some form of certification. Two teachers hold a Type 29 transitional bilingual certificate. Three other teachers are fully certified with either a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or both, Anderson said.
The FLES program, Anderson added, is not being eliminated.
“I’ve been receiving calls from concerned parents who think that the program is being eliminated. That’s not the case at all. We’re just making sure that all of our teachers are certified,” Anderson said.
In order to be certified, teachers must fulfill a series of requirements, including completing a state-approved certification program at an institution of higher learning, according to guidelines by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Certification requirements also fall within federal guidelines under No Child Left Behind. Teachers, for instance, with only a Type 29 transitional bilingual certificate are not considered “highly qualified” unless they are in compliance with requirements under federal law. Those teachers with a Type 29 certificate in Dist. 97 must be certified by 2008.
Language written into the current Dist. 97 teacher’s contract states that the other non-certified FLES teachers must be certified by the 2007-2008 school year.
“We feel that all teachers who are in the classroom should be certified,” said Peggy Kell, president of the Oak Park Teacher’s Association, and an instructor at Percy Julian Middle School, 416 S. Ridgeland. “The contract hasn’t changed in the last two years. I think the administration is just following up with what they want.”
When Dist. 97 established FLES in the mid-’90s, the district thought it would not have enough fully-qualified teachers for the program, Anderson said. The district allowed some teachers to teach in the program.
“They felt in the beginning that native speakers would be sufficient,” said Kell. “The association argued if that were the case, that after a certain point, they would get their certification.”
Anderson said the December letters were the latest reminder to teachers, and added that those teachers were not being forced out. Kell added that the district had made the accommodation to allow the teachers to work toward their certification.
“Some of them have not been able to get all of their certification requirements for a number of reasons, which are understandable,” said Kell. “At least the district gave them a heads up of saying, ‘Hey, this is coming up and this is what’s expected.'”
Instructors in the FLES program teach in the regular classroom. If FLES teachers are not certified, the regular classroom teacher cannot leave the room.
The current contract year ends in June. Anderson said if the FLES instructors are teaching in a summer program, they will have till the end of that program to get their certification.
If they’re not certified by fall, they won’t return to the district.
“They must be certified by the start of the next school year,” Anderson said.