Margarte Spellings and the Wu-Tang Clan

The AP story today about Margaret Spellings’ (National Education Secretary) touched on some very important themes, primarily getting and retaining teachers.

Just after her speech to the state Board of Education, the Senate approved SB 1066 (for our history buffs out there, 1066 was the battle of Hastings, which signaled the end of the Dark Ages). This bill authorizes a new teacher certification program designed for people who want to change jobs to become a teacher.

Luanne Ridgeway, the bill’s sponsor notes that her doctorate allows her to teach college, but not high school. Teach for America does a great service in grabbing new college graduates and getting them into the teaching field, but in order to keep up with a growing demand for highly qualified teachers, Missouri needs to be able to cull from a larger pool of experienced professionals.

I think this is really important, and not just because of that pesky statistic that over half of all new teachers quit within 2 years. It seems that students would benefit greatly from being taught by someone who can bring a practical knowledge to what they are learning in the classroom.

As the Wu-Tang Clan says, “Cash Rules Everything Around Me, dolla dolla bills, ya’ll.” As a professional in any field with a competitive salary, anyone wanting to become a teacher has to think, “Wait a minute. I have to get more schooling that costs time and money, to a get a job where I will almost surely make less.” Many potential teachers have families already to think of and provide for as well, many cannot spend days in a classroom—but I would posit that many wanting to make that transition are qualified through experience.

I don’t think the folks taking advantage of this alternative will be held to less of a standard than a teacher who decided at 18 that they wanted to major in education. And to make sure that is the case, merit pay seems to be the perfect instrument to ensure that no matter how long you’ve been teaching or what your background is, if you’re good at teaching kids, you’ll be rewarded.