OUCH

Teachers come up short in testing

In Philadelphia, students aren't the only ones struggling to pass tests.

Half of the district's middle school teachers who took tests to become certified as highly qualified under the federal No Child Left Behind law failed, district results show.

Math teachers did the worst: Nearly two out of every three failed that exam, while more than half flunked the science test, 43 percent the English exam, and 34 percent the social-studies test.

Here is a vast understatement:

"It's obviously very discouraging," said Betsey Useem, a research consultant who has studied Philadelphia teacher staffing. "People should be able to pass this test if this is the subject they're teaching. They shouldn't be skating on thin ice in terms of content knowledge."