Not part of the affirmative action class...
Posted on 06/29/2016 5:39:58 AM PDT by MichCapCon
Christopher Douglas is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, where he teaches a half dozen classes. He has undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and economics from Michigan Technological University as well as a doctorate in economics from Michigan State University.
Yet, Douglas has said he would have to complete additional coursework and also pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification to teach at a public high school in Michigan. And he isn’t alone.
Ross B. Emmett is a professor of political economy and political theory and constitutional democracy at James Madison College at MSU.
“According to the state of Michigan licensing requirements, I cannot teach economics in a Michigan high school,” Emmett said in an email. “This, despite the fact that I have a Ph.D. in economics and over thirty years of experience in liberal arts college classrooms with excellent evaluations.”
When the Legislature passed the $617 million bailout of Detroit Public Schools, it included in the law a provision that allowed DPS to hire non-certified teachers.
Media coverage of the provision has painted the district as being free to hire unqualified teachers off the street to fill up DPS classrooms.
The law states that any non-certified teachers would have to be hired by an “appropriate official of the community district” and only if the individuals’ combination of education and experience qualified them for the teaching post.
Consider WXYZ-TV's coverage on the possibility of non-certified teachers coming to DPS. An article stated: "What would you say if some lawmakers in Lansing said, 'We’re going to lower standards for who can be a teacher — but only in your child’s district?' That is exactly what some House Republicans said to Detroit parents."
DPS Interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather told the Detroit Free Press she didn't like having the ability to hire non-credentialed experts to teach in her district.
"The legislation that is specific to Detroit to allow non-certified teachers into our classrooms I find to be extremely problematic," she said. "Think about being on an airplane and the pilot doesn’t show up, and the stewardess says, 'Has anyone ever wanted to fly? Today’s your day.' They're putting the future of 46,000 plus kids at risk. We need to be very careful about that, very conscientious about ... the law’s implications."
The American Federation of Teachers-Michigan claimed the law would allow “non-certified people to teach, without any requirements for education, experience or preparation. …”
Not mentioned in either report was the fact that the law already allows all school districts — not just Detroit — to hire individuals who are not certified to teach certain subjects. Still, many highly qualified people are barred from teaching at DPS because, although they are qualified to teach at a public K-12 school, they have not completed the state-required licensing.
"Unions like barriers to entry, which is what this certification represents," Douglas said.
Gary Wolfram is a professor of economics and public policy at Hillsdale College. He has written books on the economy, has served as the chairman of the board of trustees at Lake Superior State University, was a member of the State Board of Education from 1993 to 1999, received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and has taught at several colleges, including the University of Michigan.
“I could not teach at a public school (K-12),” Wolfram said in an email. “I think the principal should be able to decide and that the school aid money should follow the child, so choosing good teachers would be rewarded.”
According to the Michigan Department of Education, here’s what someone has to do to be eligible to teach at a Michigan K-12 public school.
All Michigan teachers must complete either a traditional teacher preparation program or an alternative program.
Teachers must also complete required reading courses. That means six semester credit hours for elementary teachers and three semester credit hours for secondary teachers.
Teachers must complete a course in first aid and CPR that is approved by the American Red Cross or similar organization.
Teachers must pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification and the Professional Readiness Examination/Basic Skills.
Douglas, Emmett and Wolfram are all members of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s board of scholars.
When I left the USAF in 1989, my old school district contacted me, wanting me to teach science. Likely because I had a Bachelor’s in Geology and Geophysics, and was rated as a Ground, Simulator, and Flight Instructor.
I only needed two more years of coursework to teach 8th grade Earth Science and 9th grade Chemistry. . . for a 10% cut in pay.
I passed on the “opportunity”. . .
I can teach at any college or university in FL (and elsewhere) that will hire me for the courses I have enough grad hours in, and have been teaching since the late ‘80s. I cannot teach at any high school, because I haven’t taken the education courses that supposedly would teach me how to teach, even though I have been teaching successfully since, well, the late ‘80s.
This is not just a Detroit problem. It happens here in Texas too; probably happens all over the U.S. Over the years I have had friends with engineering, finance, accounting, etc, degrees who have had a desire to teach after retiring from the private sector. And, they have run up to this road block. Reguiring these Education Hours is just a means by which Teachers Unions use to protect their turf. Btw, there is no such requirement to teach at the college level. Go figure......
This is the way it works. College professors are hired based on what they know, high school teachers are hired (supposedly) on their ability to teach.
That’s why at major universities there are times where the brilliant professor can’t disseminate the information to the class. A high school friend went to UM Duluth. The first day of class the foreign chemistry prof asked a girl in the front something. She couldn’t understand him, no one could figure it out. After 10 minutes of him trying to get the class to understand his question he wrote it on the board: Whatbis your name? He was hired based on his degrees, not his ability to teach.
Considering the results of public schools not only should teacher’s certificates not be required but active membership in a teacher’s union should be a deal killer for getting a job.
Not part of the affirmative action class...
In my sophomore year in my ME program, I had to take two EE courses. It was the first time I’d ever hears the term “Camel Jockey.” (Even though, in retrospect, the guy was from India). I don’t think English was his second language — maybe his third or fourth and never practiced it was so bad. To top it off, he couldn’t relate to people and was awkward and clumsy as a teacher. Worst teacher ever, but he sure knew circuit design.
This was all the way back in 1972. Some things never change.
Just because you are an expert at the material doesn’t mean you are an effective teacher.
She’s afraid he’s better qualified than she is.
Requiring these Education Hours is just a means by which Teachers Unions use to protect their turf.”
The teacher union concept is overdone. Here in the South, except for pockets, teachers’ union have no power whatsoever, but the same mindless controls apply.
It is the educational bureaucracies that maintains control in all fifty states and want to keep control and they are always liberal, anti-American, anti-Christian, and don’t want outside influences coming in exposing their incompetence.
Here in Louisiana Jindal basically destroyed teaching as a profession and there were no teacher unions that came close to stopping him. But the insane liberal educational bureaucracy thrives.
A couple of years ago, there was an article in the Arizona Republic about an Arizona State University music professor who found that he couldn’t teach in an Arizona public school unless he took a specific college course.
He was the instructor for that course.
I found similar problems during the last tech sector meltdown when I looked into teaching. I have a masters degree in electrical engineering and a bachelors degree in computer engineering. To teach high school math in New Jersey, it looked like I would have to take two additional 300-level math courses to reach the minimum requirements. I’d have to take them at a state university and not the county community college (although the community college courses would have counted if I got them before getting my BS and MS degrees). I would find out if I was qualified by sending my transcripts and $50 to the state education board, and they’d get back to me in a few months once they figured out if I had met the college course requirements. If I didn’t, I’d have to find new courses, take them, and resubmit my transcripts.
At the time, the state teachers were claiming they needed more teachers—especially in the STEM fields.
Excellent point! A college instructor need not worry about motivating his class to learn. For a high school instructor, that's half the battle.
Furthermore, the college instructor need not worry about individual his student handicaps (emotional problems, learning disabilities, etc.). The high school instructor must take all that into consideration.
So yes, the high school instructor needs a somewhat different education than does the college instructor.
Dealing with 14 year olds who don’t want to be there is not the same as lecturing to 20 year olds who do.
Teachers must pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification and the Professional Bribe Arrangements,Clandestine Meeting Basic Skills.
Same story for me: Ph.D. in Economics from OSU, 40 years of teaching university-level courses, published 18 books, retired from Purdue University, but am not qualified to teach in an Ohio high school.
Snoringbear, how many of your friends in those vaulted careers has to give presentations and had to have team building and leadership skills in order to be successful at their craft? Hmmm, seems to me that's what you need to be up in front of a classroom to get the bells and whistles to go off in those skulls full of mush. In a former career I was at the top of my game and at a career fair they had the Local HS looking for teachers and I asked about me teaching said skill, nope, 4 yr teaching degree needed, naturally I walked away.
Don't get me started on the plethora of non-line courses that are available from MIT, Stanford etc that your HS kid could can take as an alternative, especially if they are in a non traditional sport and want time away from the rigid school times and are advanced academically. 1st they won't take the courses, they are not "certified" and they can't vouch for them for their vaulted Diploma and it is all about the head count, funding and the Unions.
Boy could I tell you some stories, off line if you want....
I don’t think this is uncommon, for teachers to be required to have the state certification, if teaching K-12. I believe this is how it is done in Nebraska.
Dealing with 14 year olds who CANNOT be disciplined no matter what is no picnic...
Very true. My wife was a grade school teacher and faced discipline conditions that never were an issue for me. (I taught university classes.) In 40 years of teaching, I only had one time where I asked a student to leave the classroom. I would not have been able to do that in a HS.
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