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SACRAMENTO – California’s policy of allowing teachers who aren’t fully credentialed into the classroom could potentially jeopardize millions in federal funding. 

Starting this fall, President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act requires states to hire only fully credentialed teachers for low-performing schools that receive federal funding. By 2006, the state has to hire fully credentialed teachers for all schools. 

However, national education officials say the state is skirting the federal law by sticking to credentialing policies that don’t match up with federal requirements. 

Under federal law, fully credentialed teachers must pass rigorous tests showing they are knowledgeable in each of the subjects they teach. But California allows teachers to opt out of taking the tests and meet the requirement by taking classes. 

And California’s definition of a “highly qualified teacher,” which was approved by the state Department of Education, includes interns and emergency certified teachers, both of which are not in the federal definition. 

The state’s action has prompted criticism from a California congressman, who called the board’s definition “an audacious and reckless action.” 

“The California criteria for highly qualified teachers fall short of the federal requirements in almost every respect,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez. 

Federal education money for California’s low-performing schools will top $1.44 billion this year. But that money is tied to requirements that teachers be fully credentialed, and some of the funding could be jeopardized if officials can’t work out a compromise. 

Linda Bond, governmental affairs director at the state’s Commission for Teacher Credentialing, said the state is not trying to circumvent federal requirements. 

But under the federal law, the state “runs a risk of turning away very qualified teachers who would otherwise be credentialed,” Bond said, adding that up to 80,000 veteran teachers who didn’t take the subject-matter tests would not qualify as “fully credentialed” under federal definitions. 

“That’s ridiculous,” said Diane Foster, a math teacher of 33 years at East Avenue Middle School in Livermore. “Does that mean that we’ve been doing something wrong all these years? Is there something we needed to know that the government’s testing will teach us?” 

Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Association, said eliminating emergency certified teachers, who have the highest retention rates at the state’s toughest schools, would be devastating. 

That’s because California faces a shortage of nearly 200,000 teachers in the next decade, which is partially due to a 1996 law that required public schools to reduce class size. 

Before the law, emergency credentials in the state were around 4,000. Since then, however, emergency permits topped 36,000, with a disproportionate amount going to low-performing schools. 

“What the (State Board of Education) is saying is that a college graduate, working toward a credential, who passed state tests, is a qualified teacher,” Johnson said. “If you change that definition, you would create an absolute disaster.” 

Dan Langan, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, said he expects state and federal officials to agree, but, as is, California’s definition of a highly qualified teacher “wouldn’t pass muster and wouldn’t meet the requirements of the law.” 

“There are penalties for noncompliance with the law, but that’s not imminent,” he said. “Our goal is to work with California and other states to make sure they come into compliance with the law.”