That is what I said yesterday, walk across the street to UW tell them any grad or May grad can have a teachers job. In two years they will have better teachers (more enthusiasm, not jaded or unionized) and cheaper. Let every stinking sick teacher collect 2 years unemployment and be done with it.
All they have to do is allow people with college degrees in given subjects to teach those subjects ... without having to jump through all the teacher certification hoops. It’s pretty ridiculous that a guy with a PhD in chemistry cant teach in the public schools.
Get rid of the certification requirement, replace it with a degree requirement, and watch the caliber of teachers improve.
Another idea for consideration...
All across the country, but particularly in NYS, some of the youngest and most enthusiastic teachers are getting fired, because the teacher’s unions demand “seniority” be kept (last hired, first fired).
The older burned out teachers get to keep their jobs through tenure and collective bargaining, and they refuse to take salary cuts to keep the younger teachers, who make much less, on the payroll. They are totally selfish, greedy, and unconcerned about the profession of teaching, just their scheduled salary increases, benefits, and retirement pay.
Send the word out that Wisconsin is looking to hire younger qualified teachers, and watch them flock to Wisconsin to take these jobs.
If every state would do the same, we could really make some progress in education, finally. It is long past time to get rid of the NEA, a totally left-dominated union that is ruining our educational system in the USA, and doesn’t give a flying freep about our children.
Fire them all, hire the new grads, and then let the fired teachers "re-certify" at their own expense. There are plenty of great teachers, let them come back with no tenure and perhaps some partial credit on their previous benefits/benefits. This will let them buy back into the only system that they can comprehend - most are probably ruined for private sector jobs - and will put them in a state of inferiority to non-jaded newbies.
Bingo, permanent change achieved. To use an evolutionary theory it would be what one would call a "punctuated equilibrium".