Information is provided concerning the complexity of developing competency-based programs for members of service professions, such as teachers and media specialists, when there is little agreement about the qualifications and the behaviors required of the beginning professional. Section 1 discusses the qualities of a competent professional. Key issues are the lack of universal agreement among professional members and differences in philosophies as to whether a service professional's job is an art, a science, or a craft. Section 2 addresses the objections of critics to competency-based education, who argue that the essence of a service professional's job requires intuition and judgment which cannot be specified behaviorally. Section 3 considers the position of advocates, who undermine undefinable and unobservable mental ideas and feelings in their push for setting and maintaining standards of performance. Section 4 presents the controversial nature of competency-based education and the need for continuing debate in search of a resolution. Section 5 addresses the current status of competency-based requirements for school media professional certification. States which have already established such requirements, and publications about development and evaluation of competency-based education programs are listed. (LH)