Suzyjax, on her pedestal bashing Blunt and crying out against giving professionals an opportunity to share their knowledge with the youngins.

Look, I have explained it to you as simple as a I can. If these easily certified teachers aren’t worth a snot, they can be released from contract. Most, if not all, teachers are on a probationary period to begin with and can be let go easily. Professionals that wish to become teachers are driven by a desire to educate. Lord knows they wouldn’t do it for the money or an opportunity to deal with the snot noses and their rotten parents.

Who knows, Suz, if you just give someone a chance, they may be a great teacher. Did your educators remove your optimism?

I think the reason people like SuzyJax, who, according to her blog, is a school librarian, hate programs like this, beside the fact it was enacted by the Blunt administration rather than the Clintons, is that she if threatened by the prospect of having someone come into her industry because of a desire to educate rather than the desire to have summers off. God forbid a Republican streamline the process to let experienced people who wish to teach children do so.

I really don’t see a problem with this. We are short on science and math teachers. How else are we going to get qualified people to teach? If they can engage the students (and I don’t believe you need to take a class in order to do that), then they can teach them. College professors teach without teaching certificates. We could use these people to teach the higher level classes with students who already want to learn.

While I am a librarian, I am not a school librarian. Very nice of you to make the assumption. That said, the school librarians I know do not get the summers off. They spend that time organizing the previous years textbooks, ordering the new texts and distributing the texts to proper rooms for the next year. With all that, they may get a few weeks off.

I applaud any profesional who chooses to change careers and take on the challenge of teaching. However, do you think someone who spends less than two weeks in a classroom is either qualified or knows what they may be getting themselves into (this latter a key reason many people drop out of the profession)?
And, Renees, your college professor analogy is hardly valid. First, most professors spend semesters as a GA teaching under the guidance of a tenured professor. Second, college is primarily adults. Teaching fully formed adults is harldy the same as teaching those still in various stages of development.
Again, I applaud, encourage, and rejoice in the professionals who want to change careers. But, why can’t they use the existing alternative certification process where they are actually required to get the knowledge they need? They can even do this with temporary or provisonal certification WHILE teaching. Why must they be “instant teachers”? I find this “instant teacher” notion ironic as these folks will probably be the first to complain when Johnnie or Mary takes various shortcuts (cheating, plagiarizing) in their classrooms.

Wow, who’s child was allowed to redesign this page on “take your kid to work” day?

This “new” format stinks to high heaven.

[renees] I really don’t see a problem with this. We are short on science and math teachers. How else are we going to get qualified people to teach?

Well, there are two ways of solving a demand problem. Usually, increased demand translates to price increases for that service. The second way is to lower the entry criteria. Looks like you picked the second one.

The only ones I see touting cumbersome and ultimately useless teacher credentialing processes are those who fear losing their jobs and political influence to better qualified teachers. There are simply too many cases of public school teachers who supposedly possess the skills the letter writer deems critical who can’t teach their way out of a wet paper bag.

What will an “instant teacher” do when faced with a student who cheats? Give them an F on the assignment or test and demand they do better. You don’t need a framed certificate to figure that out.

Amazed and I CAN agree on something! (See…)

It’s different and possibly will just take some time to become used to this newness.

An interesting concept … hire people who actually understand the APPLICATION of what they’re teaching (math and science), instead of those who chose teaching as a career and went to school to get certified in it (and wanted summers off)!

I think they should add a repeal of tenure onto this bill, and I’d be whole-heartedly in favor of it! Get the dead wood out of the classroom, and put in their place those who actually know their topics from a practical sense!

There is no greater lack of enthusiasm than that which comes from a child who has been dealing with a teacher who has no business being in the classroom.