READ THE LEGISLATION AND ALL IT CONTAINS: The Federal Budget Bill we have been waiting for so long redefines “highly qualified teachers” to include TFA recruits

from Politico via Fritzwine

18 October 2013 ::   Slipped into the budget bill is language that extends "highly qualified teacher" designation to include teachers still in training - such as Teach for America recruits. The provision is seen as crucial for TFA to continue placing its teachers in low-income urban and rural schools across the country. Read the budget bill: http://politi.co/H4SVZ7 (See Section 145.)

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SEC. 145. Subsection (b) of section 163 of Public

5 Law 111-242, as amended, is further amended by striking
6 ''2013-2014'' and inserting ''2015-2016''.

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Section 163 of Public Law 111-242, as amended by Public 
Law 111-322, <<NOTE: 20 USC 7801 note.>> is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``2012-2013'' and 
        inserting ``2013-2014''; and
            (2) by inserting at the end the following:

    ``(c) <<NOTE: Deadline. Reports.>> Not later than December 31, 2013, the Secretary of Education shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Workforce of the House ofRepresentatives, using data required under existing law (section 1111(h)(6)(A) of Public Law 107-110) by State and each local educational agency, regarding the extent to which students in the 
following categories are taught by teachers who are deemed highly qualified pursuant to 34 CFR 200.56(a)(2)(ii) as published in the Federal Register on December 2, 2002:
            ``(1) Students with disabilities.
            ``(2) English Learners.
            ``(3) Students in rural areas.
            ``(4) Students from low-income families.''.

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In other words, Teachers in schools receiving federal aid under the ESEA/NCLB (Title One Schools)  do not have be be  “highly qualified” until school year 2015 - 16