Maryland public schools did not meet the federal goal of having basic academic subjects taught by all highly qualified teachers by the end of the 2005-06 school year. But no state met the requirement set by the No Child Left Behind Act that went into effect in 2002.

In Maryland, 75.4 percent of the classes are taught by highly qualified teachers, according to the 2004-05 school year data, the most recent available.

Highly qualified teachers must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, hold state certification and demonstrate knowledge of basic academic areas such as English, math and science through standardized tests and teaching experience.

“In order to reach our goal, that by the 2013-14 school year all students read and perform math at grade level, we’re going to continue to push hard to increase the number of qualified and effective teachers,” said Rene Islas, chief of staff of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education.

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States have to submit plans by July 7 to show how they’re improving, said Islas.

He said Maryland has to work harder to increase the number of highly qualified teachers in Baltimore.

“I know that Nancy Grasmick [Maryland state schools superintendent] has this at the top of her priorities,” said Islas.

Bill Reinhard, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Education, said the state has developed new recruiting methods, including a Troops to Teachers program, which allows military personnel with expertise in certain areas to qualify to become teachers.

In Baltimore County, the school system’s recruitment efforts have “even gone internationally as far as the Philippines,” said Brice Freeman, county school spokesman.

School officials with Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties said they offer tuition reimbursements for classes and teacher exams.

In Harford, “we focus on our retention rate, how we assign teachers within our schools, our hiring practices,” said John O’Neal, assistant superintendent of human resources in Harford County.

Gary Thrift, Baltimore City’s human resource officer, said the school system is “aggressively recruiting highly qualified teachers ... as well as including incentives for critical areas like special education and math.”

Courses taught by qualified teachers

Based on 2004-05 data, the following are percentages of core academic classes, such as English, math and science, taught by highly qualified teachers as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Law:

Anne Arundel: 84 percent

Baltimore City: 42.1 percent

Baltimore County: 77.7 percent

Carroll County: 85.6 percent

Harford County: 88.9 percent

Howard County: 84.2 percent

Montgomery: 80.3 percent

Prince George’s: 62 percent

Source: Maryland Report Card

tjohnson@baltimoreexaminer.com