Teachers in one out of five classes are not qualified under federal law to instruct the more than 870,000 students in Maryland. And that?s good when the state is compared to dozens of other states and the District of Columbia, where officials are still scrambling to meet the strict teaching requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

“We have 80 percent of our classes now taught by highly qualified teachers. Just two years ago, that number was 67 percent,” said State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick. “But make no mistake about it ? this will be a difficult goal for Maryland or any state to reach, but it is an important goal that we will work hard to reach.”