Here’s a report from KASB on the SBOE’s decision to put off a vote on the use of non-certified teachers indefinitely.
A proposal to allow the state’s innovative districts to hire non-licensed people to teach was sent back for more work on Thursday after numerous educators spoke against the plan.
Even before teachers, higher education officials and school advocates voiced disapproval of the measure to the State Board of Education, the board put off a vote on the proposal indefinitely.
Board Chairman Jim McNiece said he wants the leaders of innovative school districts to meet with the deans of colleges of teacher education to work on their concerns. He set no deadline to re-do the plan.
Later, innovative district leaders conceded that they should have engaged more stakeholders before bringing the proposal to the state board.
McNiece said the pushback from educators was good to hear and that inviting more stakeholders to the conversation will produce a better proposal. He added there is no hurry to put together a new plan.
As presented to the board, the measure would have allowed the six innovative districts to hire non-licensed professional employees or licensed professional employees in areas outside their area of licensure under a “specialized certificate.”
During the public comments portion of the Education Board meeting, numerous people spoke against the plan.
Several said a person may have deep knowledge of a certain subject, such as math, but without training, he or she wouldn’t have the necessary skills to teach, especially to students who have special needs.
Other speakers said the proposal degraded the license teachers are required to have and compared it to allowing a person to perform surgery without a medical degree.
The state’s innovative districts are Blue Valley USD 299, Concordia USD 333, Hugoton USD 210, Kansas City USD 500, Marysville USD 364 and McPherson USD 418. Innovative districts are allowed to shed many state regulations in exchange for implementing a plan to improve student performance.
Officials from innovative districts said allowing this alternative hiring plan would give them flexibility to address teacher shortages and staff hard-to-fill subject areas.
In response to some of the comments from educators, Kansas City Superintendent Cindy Lane said there was no way her district would use the proposal to hire someone who wasn’t the best qualified for the job.
KASB supports the proposal, saying it would allow local officials to determine the best way to provide education in their communities.
Several members of the Education Board said they did not want a system that allowed alternative licensing of elementary school teachers. Teaching children how to read and write and beginning math was too important and requires special training, they said.
And several school board members said work on the issue should be broadened to look at barriers to licensure that would affect all school districts, not just the innovative districts.