Perhaps a few Texans have been reading our report on the flaccidity of most alternative-certification programs for teachers. The Texas State Board of Educator Certification is considering a rule that would standardize and raise the minimum entrance requirements for alternative certification (at least a 2.5 college GPA) and would require a certain amount of training before a teacher is handed a classroom full of students. This is a sound idea, provided the "training" is also sound. It's not a perfect idea, though. What about a middle-aged candidate who wasted his college years but then matured, learned more, and made millions in the oil business? Should that person be barred from teaching eleventh-grade economics because of a long-ago transcript? Raising standards is tricky, isn't it? Texas is one of the few states with robust alternative certification, and its idea to demand a minimum GPA from alternative certification candidates is the right one. We're less enthusiastic about the required training, though, and we hope the Lone Star State will reconsider that portion of its proposal.
"State pushes for stricter rules on alternative certification teacher programs," by Katherine Leal Unmuth, Dallas Morning News, June 22, 2008