Illinois Board Adjusts Teacher Certification to Meet Federal Rules

By Joetta L. Sack

Illinois education officials have approved a new set of rules that all teachers must meet, and which the state hopes will bring it into line with new federal mandates aimed at raising teacher quality.

Among the biggest impacts from the state board of education's action on Sept. 19 could be a decrease in the state's use of foreign-trained bilingual teachers and greater difficulty in filling substitute-teacher slots in the 432,000- student Chicago schools.

Many other questions remain, though, about how Illinois school districts, which face growing shortages of teachers, will staff their classrooms with "highly qualified" teachers under the terms of the federal "No Child Left...