Wednesday, October 11, 2006

An example of what's wrong with our education system

It's possible that California is taking No Child Left Behind - with its mandate to have a "highly qualified" teacher in every class - further than most states. The state is interpreting the law to mean that every teacher must pass a teacher certification course, which, incidentally, the teacher has to pay for; the course tuition could be as much as $15,000. Some experienced teachers are unwilling to take the course or pay the money and are leaving the public school system.

Some of those who have refused to take the course are very experienced teachers who have earned state-wide teacher of the year awards and who are acknowledged as superior teachers by students, parents and administrators. To force these people to pass a teacher certification course is truly stupid, particularly when our education system is not functioning very well in our global world. Their certification is in the students they have taught, not in some regimented course.

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