Yesterday our anti-terrorist Secretary of Education announced another of what will undoubtably be a long series of "adjustments" to No Child Left Behind. This time W and friends changed the rules to make it easier for states to certify that a teacher is "highly qualified". For the most part, however, loosening the rules is a pretty poor "common-sense solution" considering that the current rules only assure teachers are minimally qualifed rather than highly.

For the most part these changes are directed at complaints from largely rural states – all those blue areas on the political map. Many rural areas have trouble attracting qualified teachers. Beyond that, many teachers in small schools must teach in more than one subject area. But by start of school in the fall of 2006, NCLB stays that every teacher must be certified in every subject they teach, which in almost every state includes having a degree in those subjects. The new rules simply allow schools in rural areas to postpone the requirement by three years.

However, the problem with the "highly qualified" teacher part of NCLB goes beyond the degree requirement. Just having a college degree does not make you a good teacher. And not having one doesn’t make you a bad teacher. We need a better way to judge teaching ability. I’m not sure exactly what that is but I do know that it’s more complex than the increasingly simplistic process in this law.