We measure oxygen and nitrogen abundances for 14 star-forming emission line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.11 -1.4 like local spirals. These chemical properties are inconsistent with unevolved objects undergoing a first burst of star formation. The majority of the ELGs are presently ~4 magnitudes brighter and ~0.5 dex more metal-rich than the bulk of the stars in well-known metal-poor dwarf spheroidals such as NGC 205 and NGC 185, making an evolution between some ELGs and metal-poor dwarf spheroidals improbable. However, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that more luminous and metal-rich spheroidal galaxies like NGC 3605 may become the evolutionary endpoints of some ELGs. [abridged]
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41 pages, w/12 figures, uses AASTeX aaspp4.sty, psfig.sty: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal