It is time to end teacher licensing. Tennessee bill which would allow temporary permits (for not just teachers) to teach most courses. This should be permanent.

by Adrian Mojica, Jackie DelPilar, Fox 17,  Tuesday, February 22nd 2022 --A bill under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly would allow the state's Department of Education commissioner to issue temporary permits to people -not just certified teachers- to teach most classes. The bill would allow people to secure emergency teaching permits without requiring any formal teacher training. They could teach with a permit for up to three years. (read more)

End Teacher Licensing

By FREDERICK M. HESS, National Review, September 30, 2021 - The desire for good teachers in the classroom is as old as teaching itself. .... Today, every state requires that educators be licensed to teach in the 100,000 public schools that enroll 90 percent of Ameri­can students.  In theory, licensure ensures that teachers can do their job; in practice, it burdens prospective teachers and deters promising candidates without delivering on that core promise. 

In theory, licensure ensures that teachers can do their job; in practice, it burdens prospective teachers and deters promising candidates without delivering on that core promise. ... the overly burdensome process of obtaining a teacher license. ... cost of this teacher training can deter potential educators. ... training the average teacher costs about $25,000 and requires 1,500 hours. ... Yet none of this guarantees that teachers are up to the job.

Cracking the teacher-licensure cartel would enable school leaders to imagine how they might recruit and best use all available talent, rather than narrowly seek candidates credentialed to meet century-old licensure restrictions. (Read it all at this link)

Rod's Comment: 

The bill in the state legislature is a start. It is time to end teacher licensure. While I am heartened that parents are taking an interest in what is being taught in the classroom and that education reform is a concern of our elected officials, I wish they would go big. 

There are two things, I would like to see happen, that I think could make a big and permanent difference. Number one is a fundamental redesign of education in which every public school is a charter school or public non-charter school that acts as a charter school, in which the principal is like a CEO of a company. The principal should have much more responsibility and authority and if the school fails to perform, the principal is replaced. Correspondingly, central office staff and authority should be greatly reduced.

The second thing, and it may be easier to achieve and probably needs to come first, is to abolish teacher licensure. Education is one of the easiest of degrees to obtain and attracts some of the least qualified students to the field. To teach mathematics one probably does not need a class in how to design classroom bulletin boards. Ending teacher licensure would curtail classroom progressive indoctrination. 

It is my wish that groups like the activist Moms for Liberty would make this an objective and the non-partisan think tank Beacon Center would make this a policy priority and politicians would take up the cause.

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