Teacher opinion is divided on a proposal to speed up the teacher certification process to address teacher shortages in specific subject areas, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The proposal is under consideration by the Michigan State Board of Education.
The question should not be “how will this affect the teachers?” but instead “how will this affect the students?” After all, are the schools for children or adults?
“We do have some teacher shortages … in key disciplines,” explained John Austin, vice president of the state board, in the Education Report.
As proposed, alternate certification routes would be available to people who already have a bachelor's degree with a major in the content area in which they want to teach. Candidates would have to complete 15 credit hours of coursework and supervised student teaching, among other requirements.
Many in the public already know that the current method of teacher certification doesn’t automatically make teachers “qualified.”
For example, homeschooling parents are usually not certified, yet homeschoolers are successful in college, and their numbers have doubled in the past decade.
However, leaders of the teachers’ unions say that the proposal would weaken qualification standards for teachers, and deans of Michigan education colleges also have criticized the plan.
“We do not want someone coming in and bypassing going through the same route that our teachers or our members are going through to attain tenure," said Lois Doniver of the Michigan Federation of Teachers.
“There is a tremendous amount of anxiety on the part of teacher colleges regarding the proposed alternate route to teacher certification,” added Eileen Weiser, spokesperson for the Professional Standards Commission for Teachers, who is pictured here. .jpg)
"There is concern ... that union teachers may be displaced somehow.”
Addressing the board during its public comment period, one substitute teacher who already holds a bachelor's degree said that she would welcome an alternate certification program.
"I've been wanting to teach for quite some time," she said, but pointed out that most working adults can't afford to quit their jobs long enough to complete student teaching requirements or coursework requirements under existing programs.
About 58 percent of educators surveyed said they oppose the idea, according to the poll, which was commissioned by the Michigan Education Association and conducted by the research firm EPIC-MRA.
Only 19 percent of teachers believed applicants wouldn't have enough subject knowledge, and only 13 percent believed applicants would not have enough classroom training to be effective.
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Comments
This is a no brainer. Obviously the union is concerned more about its members than about the lack of teachers in important areas of study. There are so many qualified math and science professionals who would do wonders for our schools, but don't want to have to go back and be double educated.
As if any one who has not trained to be an educator could be successful in teaching your children. We put a lifetime in our education, training and commitment deeloping our careers. We made the difficult choice to put each child before ourselves. Our sacrifices are too many to list. Day after day we work nonstop for a salary which is equivalent to working in fast food when our real hours are considered. What next people? Their are no short cuts if you want your children to be successful.
Interesting how we change the rules to the game as we go along. There are many things we can do to lure new teachers besides compromising standards. "Lack of teachers" has to do more with the deplorable conditions...NCLB, NBPTS, Unions, administration and government control, annual pay, few alternatives (other than MEAP), Plus, we get to take all the blame for mismanagement and corruption. I would NEVER advise my children to enter the field of education. Once you enter the real world of education today and paid university fees, you realize instantly what a big mistake you've made! They should change the requirements for University professors and school administrators AKA known as "our leaders." Changing some of the completely stupid (and I mean those that defy any degree of logic) laws would help too!
Clyde, if you are a teacher I hope that you don't teach spelling. Sue, there are only a few areas that have teacher shortages, mainly math and science for high schoolers. The rest of the teaching jobs in SE MI receive 150 applications per position, and there are far more trained educators in MI than there are teaching jobs. In addition, no one EVER leaves a public school teaching job once they are lucky enough to attain it. What does that say?
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