U.S. sued over teacher credentials - A coalition of parents and advocates says federal rules are violating education law.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is thought to be the first of its kind in the country and, if successful, could affect more than 10,000 teachers-in-training now working in California classrooms.

At the heart of the lawsuit is the part of the sweeping school reform law that requires districts to hire "highly qualified" teachers -- those who have earned their teaching credentials -- to teach core subjects such as math and English. Under the regulations written by the Department of Education to enforce the requirement, however, districts can count novice teachers who are still in credentialing programs as meeting that standard.

"Every parent should have the right to know what's going on with their children. I am leaving my children in these teachers' hands, and I want them taken care of in the best possible way," said Sonya Renee, a Los Angeles parent and plaintiff in the lawsuit. "I am not against interns being in my children's schools. But they should not be out there in front of a classroom on their own."

Though the suit could have implications for all states, the situation is most extreme in California, where last year about 10,700 intern teachers were in charge of classrooms, said John Affeldt, an attorney for Public Advocates Inc., the civil rights group leading the lawsuit.

In California, most teachers earn their credential through a yearlong graduate school program. But an alternative option allows those who demonstrate knowledge in a particular subject to teach while studying for their credential through an internship program run by a school district or university.

Under the regulations challenged in the lawsuit, such teachers are considered highly qualified as soon as they begin their internship program despite having little or no teaching experience.

That loophole, Affeldt said, leaves parents in the dark about their children's teachers. It also compounds, he said, a larger issue in urban public school systems in which the least experienced teachers, who have little seniority, are often assigned to the most demanding, troubled schools in poor, minority neighborhoods.