Classrooms in Need: Texas is still short on certified teachers

Dallas Morning News | Editorials:

“2005 marks the first year that alternative certification exceeds traditional undergraduate programs in producing newly certified teachers. ... Alternative certification is open to college grads who enter the classroom with provisional training and certification and go on to take prescribed education. ... The sad bottom line for Texas is that neither route has helped the state fill its most critical classroom needs – teachers in math, science, computer science, special ed and bilingual ed. ”

DMN should be commended for highlighting the problem, but faulted for suggesting no remedies.

Alternative certification should be considered only a stopgap measure, at best. Our children deserve to be taught by professionals, not teachers in training. Worse, in many cases this investment in training never pays off. Many new teachers leave the profession within the first few years, so many of these teachers with alternative certification never complete their prescribed education. It's folly to put untrained teachers in front of classrooms, on the one hand, and demand more accountability for results, on the other.

What will it take to attract and retain qualified individuals to the teaching profession? Better pay and rewards, facilities and resources, support and security, opportunities for continued professional development. Continue to insist that education in Texas is adequately funded already, and no system of accountability will attract the talent we want in our classrooms. Create sufficient incentives to attract good teachers in the first place, and accountability will not be a problem.