The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), requires school districts that receive Title I funds to notify parents that they can ask for and receive specific information about a teacher's qualifications.
As a parent of a Wilkes- Barre Area School District student, you have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers who instruct your child. Federal law allows you to ask for certain information about your child’s classroom teachers and requires us to give you this information in a timely manner if you ask for it. Specifically, you have the right to ask for the following information about each of your child’s classroom teachers:
- Whether the Pennsylvania Department of Education has licensed or qualified the teacher for the grades and subjects he or she teaches.
- Whether the Pennsylvania Department of Education has decided that the teacher can teach in a classroom without being licensed or qualified under state regulations because of special circumstances.
- The teacher’s college major; whether the teacher has any advanced degrees and, if so, the subject of the degrees.
- Whether any teachers’ aides or similar paraprofessionals provide services to your child and, if they do, their qualifications.
If you would like to receive any of this information, please visit your child’s school to request the appropriate documents.