Why do so many young Americans come out of their K–12 years with pathetic math and language skills? It has much to do with the way teachers are trained and certified. Our system rewards mediocrity and dissuades many people who could be very competent from becoming teachers.
That’s the argument Rick Hess makes in today’s Martin Center article.
Here’s a key paragraph:
Licensure systems (in tandem with seniority-based pay) also make teaching inhospitable to career-changers. While midcareer professionals move freely between most jobs, entering teaching requires enduring the licensure gauntlet and then starting at the bottom of an inflexible pay scale. This doesn’t make much sense, given the skills, maturity, and savvy that a veteran engineer, journalist, or staff sergeant might bring to the classroom. Indeed, professionals who enter teaching in their thirties or forties (or fifties) may well be more confident in their career choice and, in today’s workforce, could easily wind up teaching for decades.