Utah Senator Buttars Says Teacher Certification “Too Complex”
Standard.net reported today, Sen. Chris Buttars of Utah is proposing bills that will make getting a specialized teaching certification less complicated with less time based on real world experience. This is an awareness win for alternative teacher certification advocates. According to the story, Public school groups want those teaching in classrooms to have their kind of professional training.
Buttars won Monday morning when Senate Bill 48 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on a 4-2 vote.
The West Jordan Republican repeatedly and emotionally railed against the “red herring” that teachers should have training in “short stories and poetry” before being able to teach in a classroom, especially when hundreds of substitute teachers have less education.
Currently, to get a competency-based license, an applicant has to pass a series of classes proposed by the school district involved. It can often take a year and a half to complete those classes, which discourages some from attempting to earn the certificate.
That someone can’t be a teacher “unless they have these ancillary classes is ridiculous,” Buttars said.
SB 48 would allow prospective teachers to apply directly to the state Board of Education. Buttars, who has a college degree in marketing, said he once taught a marketing class in high school that ended up with excited students pursuing patents and developing marketing plans. The next semester, the high school didn’t ask him to teach again. When he finally called the school, officials told him that he wasn’t certified to teach. Read the rest of the article here.