see this? it's my middle finger pointing towards NCLB!

i had yet another interview today. it went swimmingly well! i even got the tour of the school!

it is a school i would love to work at. it draws an "ethnically diverse" crowd (read: 1/3 latino, about 1/2 african-american, the remainder being white kids) and this year has a magnet program called learning immersion and talent development. TD is gifted for those of you who speak illinoiese. and learning immersion incorporates many of the same teaching methods that i spent all last year learning and implementing. he asked me if i would be comfortable teaching in a school with this demographic makeup. i said i would; it would be a challenge as i have not yet had the opportunity to work with african-american (can i say black?) students; it's like physics, if i can do that i can do anything.

alas, the rules changed and one of the websites that told me all i needed to know about lateral-entry. and this principal explained to me that theirs is a "title 1" school (read: draws mostly from poor neighborhoods) which by NCLB requires that all teachers be "highly qualified" (ie, have a masters.) to compound matters further in favor of stupidity, the district i've interviewed with now multiple times has posted on its website that as of 30 june they no longer hire lateral-entry teachers for elementary school.

so anyway, post-tour he is ready to offer me the job but he thinks to call HR to check on the status of my application. whereupon i find out that i need to take this exam BEFORE i can even be considered for a position... on the website i had initially checked out, it said you had until 30 june of your first year to take said exam. so, i've got to get my ass signed up for an exam. he said, "well i'm sorry i can't offer you a position right now, but let me know if anything changes!"

how do they (they being those higher up than the principals who do a really good job) expect to maintain title 1's requirement for small class sizes and fit the nclb's requirement for "highly qualified" teachers simultaneously?

hopefully they will get desperate enough to staff these classes that they will hire someone like me: intelligent, autodidactic, creative, problem-solver, etc.

i am good teacher material. i just need the freaking papers that say so.

side note: just because someone has the papers that say he/she is licensed to be a teacher, that does not mean he/she is a great teacher.