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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- After missing a July deadline for submitting a federally required teacher quality plan, Utah faces a federal audit.
"The department is designating your agency as high-risk and will monitor your state as soon as possible," the U.S. Department of Education said in a letter to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington.
The department said Hawaii, Missouri and Wisconsin also will be visited by federal education officials who will audit the teacher quality data in the four states.
Harrington said she informed the federal office June 1 that Utah needed more time to involve teachers and school administrators in creating its teacher quality plan, and would comply by Oct. 1.
She is unhappy about national publicity indicating Utah didn't meet teacher quality requirements.
"The federal government doesn't understand how to lead schools," Harrington said. "They think it's all by mandate, by threat of loss of funding and by public humiliation."
The state Office of Education also must submit teacher quality plans by Nov. 1 and give monthly progress updates as it implements its plan.
"If the state doesn't meet the timelines, that's when the Department of Education could refuse federal funding," said Rene Islas, chief of staff for the federal office of elementary and secondary education.
"But we have had conversations with Utah, and they are intending to submit a plan .... I think we will be in a positive position by Nov. 1," Islas said.
Under the No Child Left Behind law, states must develop plans to show that all teachers of core academic subjects hold credentials in their subject areas and that poor and minority students have equal access to qualified teachers.
Nine states developed teacher quality plans that satisfied all criteria outlined by the department. The rest must submit new plans.
The nine states that got favorable reviews were Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota.
South Carolina was praised for paying incentives to teachers in high-need schools. Louisiana was credited for collecting clear, meaningful data on teacher quality.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
