Recently, President Obama signed into law the bipartisan legislation
entitled Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA). This legislation allows for more local control for states in the areas
of goal setting, determine ratings, and deciding remedial measures. Overall this legislation significantly scales
back federal interventions in schools and prioritizes local control. Rightly so, educators and parents are greatly
relieved this legislation curtails an over-reliance on standardized testing and
the use of these results to evaluate teachers and schools, which was narrowly prescribed
in NCLB. Local educators and stakeholders,
or, those closest to students, are given the flexibility and authority to meet
the needs of diverse learners.
However,
not as well publicized, is the deeply disturbing teacher preparation provisions
that appear in ESSA. These issues have been highlighted by Valier Straus in the
Washington Post (December 5th), and by Dr. Kenneth Zeichner at the
University of Washington at Seattle. Faculty in university teacher preparation are
left to wonder if the largest Pk-12 teacher unions, namely the National Education
Association and the American Federation of Teachers, threw university teacher
educators and their programs under the bus in order to get U.S. law makers to loosen
restrictions on Pk-12 schools.
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| Retrieved from http://knowyourcharter.com |
Provisions
in ESSA permit states to allow a portion of their Title II funds to support
venture capitalists in establishing teacher preparation academies. These “charter”
teacher preparation academies would compete directly with university teacher preparation
programs, all while exempting these same academies from national and state accreditation
rules that regulate the quality and rigor of university teacher preparation. Unlicensed academy teacher candidates would be
fast-tracked into classrooms and serve as “teachers of record” without parent
approval or their even being notified. Faculty
that prepare academy teacher candidates are not be required to have advanced
degrees, or, to engage in academic research on instructional best-practices (p. 114).
Furthermore, teacher candidates that complete a program run by a non-university
charter academy may be awarded a Certificate of Completion that may be
recognized by states as “at least the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in
education for the purposes of hiring, retention, compensation, and promotion in
the state (p. 115).”
The
federal government would never support medical preparation academies where non-credentialed
and unlicensed doctors are thrown into operating rooms working with our nation’s
most vulnerable patients. As thoroughly reported in the news,
Ohio’s Pk-12 charter school oversight and overall performance have been a
embarrassment. In light of
ESSA, it looks like we can soon add “charter” teacher preparation academies to
this cringe-worthy list.
