Many teachers are upset about testing requirements of NCLB, but I wonder if, in all the furor, many haven’t forgotten about the provision requiring highly qualified teachers in each classroom? It would seem that some of us, like the teachers referenced in a recent U.S. News and World Report article, will find our degrees, our skills, and our experience in high demand.

Sharp young teachers are in a seller’s market these days–and not just because of shortages plaguing many parts of the country. While the testing requirements of No Child Left Behind may have received more attention, the federal law is equally clear that all kids deserve fine teachers and that staffing solutions of years past–too many people with subpar credentials or assigned to subjects out of their field–no longer pass muster. By the end of this school year, all teachers of core academic classes must be “highly qualified” in their content area, and administrators are racing to beat the deadline.

Teaching? Lucrative? Maybe not. But at least teachers will be more level with their counterparts in other professions.