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About the Teacher Shortage:
This is an essay that I was going to post a few weeks ago. Instead,
I got preoccupied with the doings in Afghanistan. Now, I am even
more seriously concerned about the way things are going over there.
However, I have no clear picture that allows me to address the
issues. I must wait and see.
Meanwhile, this is about another plank in the platform of the person I would be happy to vote for. According to the ABC Nightly News, airing one day in September, 2001, there is an enormous teacher shortage in the US. These are K-12 teachers I'm talking about. There will be a shortfall of qualified teachers numbering in the millions in the near future.
I would like to respectfully suggest that that is a heap of pure unvarnished manure. There is a shortage to be sure. It is not a shortage of qualified teachers. It is a shortage of administrative intelligence. Every community that I know of has a surplus of qualified teachers. What they do not have is a large number of certified teachers.
Certification means having a little piece of paper which proves that you graduated from the approved teacher education program of an approved university. It does not prove that you know how to teach or that you know anything worth teaching. Neither does it mean that you are emotionally suited to teaching. It means that you passed some tests and graduated.
At the same time, a huge number of people who, through acquired knowledge, are eminently qualified to teach and share that knowledge have been systematically shut out. I speak of our huge reservoir of retired tradespeople and technicians. I also speak of well educated people who would rather teach children than whatever it is they are doing.
What keeps them out is not lack of qualification. They are barred by nothing more that stupid rules enforced by equally stupid administrators. The rule is simple. If you have a certificate, you can work as a teacher whether you are qualified or not. If you have no certificate you may not teach regardless of your qualification.
Here is an example of how insane it can get. My daughter, who has a doctor of philosophy degree in genetics, thought that she would like to teach kids. She could make big bucks if she wanted to work in industry, but she doesn't. She wants to teach. She loves kids and has two of her own. So, she went to the local highschool and made her offer.
You will not want to believe this, but this is what they told her. You are not qualified to teach. If you would like to work one year at no pay, under the supervision of a real teacher, we could give you a conditional certificate to teach. Honest to God, that's what they told her. My poor daughter had to settle for a professorship at Michigan State University where, among other tasks, she sometimes teaches grownups. The poor dear was simply not qualified to teach highschool.
Now, I have a proposal. I do not offer this lightly. Normally I would speak against the Feds interfering in local affairs, but this is a special case. It requires special attention because it's about our kids education.
I would like to see a federal program of certification for qualified teachers. What the program would do is certify teachers through straightforward testing. The tests would be similar to other test for professional certification. I remember taking such a test myself. It was to be certified as a Radio Engineer. I was certified to operate a commercial radio transmitter. Mrs. Gaffer has also taken professional certification tests to acquire and maintain her nursing license. Even mechanics must take such tests. Only teachers seem to be exempt.
This test would be available to any adult who thought they were qualified to teach. It would test for specific knowledge and also for aptitude. The aptitude qualification would show that the applicant was emotionally equipped to teach. Many people are not, but they are allowed to teach if they have a certificate. It's dangerous as heck.
The knowledge portion would allow certification for teaching specific subjects. Thus, a person could be certified to teach math and English, but not Latin or French. This would put an end to the practice of having people teaching subjects of which they have no knowledge. In K-12 that is often the case under current conditions.
The way I envision it, everyone who thinks they are a teacher would be required to be certified under this national program. A diploma from a university would be nice, but not sufficient or necessary. I suspect a few of those who are currently teaching would not make the cut. I know there were several when I attended highschool who were so dumb that I knew it. That is another story which I will get into in another essay.
It would also be important to have an ongoing program of re-certification. Certified once and forever is not good enough for our kids. My Radio Operator's license had to be renewed every five years. I think that's good enough for teachers too.
Now here is the important part. Once a person is federally certified, a public school system may employ them with no other qualification required. All the stupid rules would be set aside. All the moronic insults such as my daughter receive would never again happen.
I believe that a federal program like this would dissolve the
alleged teacher shortage in just one year. Then we would have
a surfeit of teachers who we knew were qualified. As I said, I'll
get into my knowledge of teachers who are painfully unqualified
in another essay. I will also discuss the deplorable situation
in school administrations.
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