And one more rotten apple this week--not to the state of Alabama, but to its university system. It is apparently more concerned about the possibility of looking bad than it is about better educating teachers.

Efforts by Alabama officials to introduce teacher testing into the Cotton State, which was illegal until recently, hit a snag this week when Alabama State University?s board of trustees voted against accepting a recent legal agreement allowing the state to require that new teachers pass a subject matter test to get a license. Lawyers on both sides had successfully reached an agreement to use ETS?s Praxis II subject matter tests (see TQB V.5.N.18); we?re not entirely sure why the university was allowed to derail the state?s effort to comply with No Child Left Behind teacher quality provisions.

Though the university?s legal advisor recommended that the board of trustees accept the consent decree, they balked. According to one member, Joe Reed, who voted against the decree, ?We?re not opposed to testing. We are opposed to unfair testing.?

However, Buford Crutcher, a member of the board who voted in favor of accepting the decision, expressed a desire to bring the legal wrangling to an end. ?I?m not really in favor of a lot of testing, but in time, the people who are educating our kids have to have some minimum qualifications.?

A special hearing will be held in front of U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson on October 8 to determine whether the issue will go to trial or back to the office buildings for further negotiations.