Teachers Need to Know so Much More Than Just How toTeach!

Every state in the US has very specific requirements for teaching certification and re-certification. If these requirements are not met, then the teacher faces losing his or her teaching certification and must repeat courses in order to regain it.

It is actually a costly endeavor to remain a teacher after the initial recertification, having a requirement of X number of hours of re-cert classes every 5 years to keep up the state requirements for certification. Most schools do not help the teacher in paying for these classes either so they can add up in no time....plus the fees for licensing have steadily raised in the 20+ years I have been a teacher. It isn't easy to keep the license but it doesn't pay to lose it either!

The way I see it, the problem with throwing professionals into the classroom is simply, that certified teachers are required to take so man classes in development of curriculum, child psychology, methods and courses that enrich the teaching experience for the students....asking a "mathematician" for example to come in and teach a class is not only short changing the student, for although he will have someone well versed in the area, other areas may be lax....but it short changing the mathematician....there will be so much he will be clueless about and will end up wasting valuable teaching time playing "catch up".

As any teacher can tell you, there are far too few teaching hours in the day as it is to waste valuable time stumbling around and trying to "get ones bearings". And on the subject of "stumbling around", we need to be more aware of and have stronger boundaries concerning those teachers who come out of college with only a rudimentary knowledge of the basics of teaching.

There is much to be said for experience being a fantastic teacher and in saying so, we need to reward those who have the experience of years in the school system accordingly instead of hiring new teachers over old simply because they will settle for a smaller starting wage.

It seems to be that the answer is to pay teachers a decent salary in the fist place and then encourage them with aid to add the classes they are required to have for re-certification....THEN you would find you'd keep the best teachers out there and there would be many others wanting the jobs as well! National testing for teachers is good in theory but I cannot see in real life how it will assure the school of getting top notch teachers....it seems to only cause undue stress in those teachers who take the test.

Having a requirement for all college education majors take the test before certification is a viable requirement....but asking all older teachers to take it, will only cause a lot of confusion, extra work for the system and cost as well.