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In a three-part series, the Chicago Sun times analyzed the failure rate of key exams taken by Illinois teachers. What they found elicited the following response from the superintendent of education, "Wow!" Not only are 180,000 students being taught by a teacher who had failed at least one test of teacher competence, the teachers who failed the most were teaching the state's poorest and lowest-achieving schools. One teacher who had failed 24 out of 25 tests was still allowed in the classroom. The analysis done by the Sun-Times show that nearly 8 percent -- 5,243 teachers -- had failed at least one test since 1988. The tests included a Basic Skills test that experts say was so easy that an eighth or ninth grader should be able to pass it on the first attempt. The analyses by the Sun-Times opened up a debate on how to balance tougher tests for teachers and the current teacher shortage in Illinois.

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