stand up for REAL science

Kansas has a critical shortage of doctors and nurses. Should this problem be solved by allowing individual hospitals to grant licenses to their own doctors without requiring them to pass any type of exam, take any relevant coursework, or have any clinical experience?

Unfortunately, there's a bill before the Kansas House of Representatives (HB 2903) designed to make sure that school districts can fill vacant teaching positions with any non-criminal holding a bachelor's degree under a new, umbrella "district licensure" proposal. Although the bill specifies that the district's licensing program must meet KSDE standards, the KSDE has been more than eager to cooperate with this proposal and is expected to give rubber-stamp approval to those programs. This so-called solution to the teacher shortage doesn't even reach the band-aid status; it merely ensures that a warm body will be present in each classroom. For example, HB 2903 would allow schools to focus on beefing up their coaching staff, then assign those coaches to teach any class.

How can we expect students to learn REAL science in their classrooms when there's no guarantee whatsoever that the teacher has the slightest clue what REAL science is all about?

Research has shown that the most significant school-controlled factor in a child's achievement is the presence of a highly-qualified teacher in the classroom.

Although the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has its faults, it does require that every classroom have a highly-qualified teacher at its helm. "Highly qualified" originally meant that every secondary teacher must have at least a bachelor's degree in each subject they're assigned to teach. Now, the requirements have been adjusted a bit - "the teacher must demonstrate subject matter competency in each of the core academic subjects taught by the teacher" - as the teacher must attain 100 points on the Kansas Content Area Rubric from the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE).

All in all, these are reasonable, research-based requirements.

However, some legislators and school superintendents seem to think that the teacher shortage is caused by so-called barriers to licensure. The data shows otherwise.

The problem isn't a lack of certified teachers. The problem is that districts can't keep them in the classroom.

As of 2000,

70,866 individuals hold a valid educator certificate in Kansas and yet districts report only 44,066 are currently employed. An additional 74,977 individuals have expired Kansas certificates. Based on a study completed by the state department staff in 2000, 47% of people (excluding those retired) who have held teaching certificates, but are no longer practicing, would consider returning to the profession.

One gifted science teacher I know left the teaching profession a few years ago because he could make more money elsewhere, with much less stress. Another promising young math teacher left the field a few years ago because she can earn a higher salary working at a part-time job for a local non-profit organization. Our students were the ones who paid the greatest price as they missed out on the opportunity to learn from these brilliant teachers.

The legislature may succeed in removing the so-called barriers to teacher licensure. In doing so, they'll have placed more barriers to kids learning REAL science in the classroom.