"These teachers are learning on the job," said Marian Schwartz, who has taught at Schallenberger Elementary School for 17 years. "The chances are they are thrown into the classroom without knowing how to work with children. It is the students that lose out."

The school district, however, says the quality of education is not compromised because the so-called "intern teachers" receive more training and guidance throughout the school year from the principal and a senior school teacher at the schools they are working at as well as from a professor from the university where they take credential programs.

"The internship programs are very challenging," said Peggy Anastasia, the school district's new teacher project facilitator. "We want to make sure that people are qualified to be teachers."

The SJUSD hired about 400 intern teachers to fill in the positions vacated by 254 teachers retiring this June and roughly 200 teachers who leave the profession for various reasons.

Anastasia admitted that some of the intern teachers may not be as experienced as teachers from traditional university teacher training programs, who must take credential classes and teach students under a mentor teacher's supervision for at least 14 weeks.

But she stresses the intern teachers can bring valuable experience from their previous jobs although they don't have full credentials. It normally takes intern teachers three to five years to complete all credential requirements.

The district's situation is far from unique.

Many school districts in California are recruiting people from a state-designed internship program to meet the shortages of qualified teachers. Actually, one out of seven of California's 350,000 teachers lacks full credentials.

The internship program can be divided into two stages, pre-internship and internship programs.

Anyone who has a bachelor's degree, passes the California Basic Educational Skills Test, and takes subject matter preparation classes is eligible for a pre-internship program.

To qualify for an internship program, candidates, besides meeting the basic requirements for a pre-internship program, must pass a subject matter exam or take a subject matter study, obtain a credential from a university or a school district, and demonstrate knowledge of the U.S. Constitution if they acquire their credential from a university.

Teachers from both programs learn classroom management techniques and curriculum design during a six-week training. They also work with a small group of children and observe senior teachers to learn how to deal with students.

But these requirements and training aren't enough to make these interns qualified teachers, some parents and teachers say.

"As a parent, I would hope my children receive proper education from a credentialed teacher," said Maria Weaber, a Willow Glen mother of three children. "I think a credentialed teacher may know the children's needs better."

Weaber, who is also an instruction aide at Schallenberger Elementary School, said the little training the intern teachers receive undermines the efforts of those teachers who go through five years of college to get their credential.

"If I find my children don't have credentialed teachers, I will move my children out of the class," Weaber said.

Schwartz, a third-grade teacher, shared the same views. saying she would rather take a leave of absence than share her contract with an intern teacher the school district had assigned her.

"I don't want to put my name outside the classroom with someone I don't think is qualified," said Schwartz, who wanted to share her contract so she could continue teaching and take care of her 1-year-old daughter.

But she said the district told her she could only share her contract with the intern teacher instead of a credentialed substitute teacher because the substitute teacher is not a formal school district employee.

"How can a person who only receives six weeks of training and pass an exam be better than a credentialed teacher with actual teaching experience?" Schwartz asked. "These intern teachers are just waiting to go back to the corporate world when the economy is turning up."

The school district said it couldn't comment on specific teachers but said they are obligated to offer jobs to the district's formal employees. It also added that the retention rate of the intern teachers is high.

According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, about 90 percent of the pre-internship teachers during 1998-99 school year stayed for a second year.

This year is the first year the SJUSD is offering a pre-internship program and the second year it's offering an internship program. The retention rate of last year's internship teachers was about 80 percent.

"They are committed to learning and helping students learn," Anastasia said. "You really need to love teaching to stay in the profession."