Dive Brief:
- Education professors are responding negatively to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkers' proposal that would drop the certification requirement that all educators complete a teacher preparation program.
- True education reform means that future teachers have to pass a more rigorous threshold, according to professors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who, along with their students, have signed a petition opposing the lower standards.
- Under Walker's proposal, anyone who has a bachelor's degree in a core subject like English, math, social studies, and science is eligible for a teaching certification. Those with expertise in non-core subjects, such as a technology strand, could get a license even without a bachelor's degree.
Dive Insight:
To nix teacher training seems short sighted, and WKOW 27 reports that Republican Rep. Mary Czaja redrafted the proposal following the petition's delivery so that it would only allow those qualified to teach part-time.
Not surprisingly Walker's plan is not only being criticized by education professors and students, but by the statewide teachers' union and the spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The biggest concern here is that this move is one more step in the de-professionalization of teaching.
While it's wonderful to get "real life" people into classrooms — individuals who can share their experiences and inspire — these individuals should be visitors or guest lecturers and not the day-to-day teacher. Education professionals say plans like Walker's tend to devalue the work and pedagogy behind teaching. Teaching, they argue, should be held to the same high certification standards of other professions.