Unleash The Emergency Credentials Now! Schools Are Struggling to Make it to Christmas

Unleash the emergency credentials, we need help in urban schools!  I know, and you are right, an emergency teaching certificate is not the ultimate solution but it’s a start. In emergency teacher credentialing, schools must seek out certified candidates first, but if unsuccessful, they then can evaluate candidates who are not certified and issue an emergency certificate.  This will allow candidates to start teaching right away.  The states that have Alternative Emergency Certificates include Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Mississippi, California, and Arizona.   In 2018, most states have alternative programs that have replaced emergency certification pathways, many are listed below.

Over the past 25 years many, urban and rural districts have hired a high number of individuals who are on emergency permits and/or wavers.  Some emergency permit teachers lack formal training and preparation but fill the immediate void.  To be totally honest, all teachers are working to provide for their students but in schools that lack resources educators find ways to “do more with less.”   The per-pupil expenditure causes a major concern as well; High-poverty areas have lower home values and collect fewer taxes, and so many times schools can’t raise as much money as more fluent areas.

Are we in violation of the law?

Inequality in school funding violates the state constitution. Yes, we all know the system is unconstitutional.  This is yet, another problem several lawsuits in more than a dozen states arguing that all students have the right to resources needed to learn to state standards, including fully qualified teachers but you are starting to see many states taking untraditional measures to fill the teacher shortage like changing policy to meet each school need.

Did you know, In Utah, you no longer need a teaching degree to teach; all you need is relevant professional experience? I’m not sure if we are ready to go there yet... let’s start by maybe increasing salary, trusting and supporting teachers in the classroom, getting rid of overwhelming paperwork and politics, bringing back and increasing the opportunity to engage in music/arts/recess, and reviving mentorship and effective onboarding and training for educator stability.

Are you looking for places to help you become a teacher?

Below are other options to address the education disparity in the US and other parts of the world, are you ready to give these organizations an opportunity to help? 

1. Teach For America (Worldwide) Teach For America is a diverse network of leaders who confront educational inequity through every sector of society. If you will graduate between July 2018 and June 2019, start your senior year with a job offer in hand—apply early to our corps.

2. City Year - At City Year, we’re working to bridge the gap in high-poverty communities between the support that students actually need, and what their schools are designed and resourced to provide.

3. World Teach - You will share the skills and knowledge gained through your education and life experience with your students, and you will make a lasting difference in their lives, opening their eyes to a world beyond their classrooms.

4. Americorps Builds Lives Through Education (ABLE) members serve K-12 students in the city of Buffalo, NY by tutoring and providing academic assistance.

5. CoaHcorps -CoaHCORPS members deliver individualized instruction in literacy and numeracy. The CORPS seeks to meet students at their entering achievement levels and advance them past grade level.

6. Japan Exchange Teaching Program The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme, now in its 27th year, is aimed at promoting grass-roots international exchange between Japan and other nations.

7. Boston Teaching Residency (Boston) - Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) recruits talented college graduates, career changers and community members of all ages and gives them the tools to make an immediate impact in the classrooms.

8. Match Education In the first year, residents are trained in Boston. During the year, they participate in our Match Corps tutoring program Monday through Thursday and receive MTR training on Fridays and Saturdays. 

9. NYC Teaching Fellowships Our mission is to recruit and prepare high-quality, dedicated individuals to become teachers who raise student achievement in the New York City classrooms that need them most. 

10. Reach to Teach - Reach To Teach is a FREE ESL Teacher Placement Agency. We never take a percentage of your salary and there are no hidden fees. We have placed thousands of happy native English teachers in ESL teaching jobs and volunteer positions in destinations all over the world.

11. Inner-city teaching corps of Chicago   Inner-City Teaching Corps (ICTC) energizes urban classrooms with tomorrow’s high-impact leaders today by recruiting top recent college graduates and accomplished career changers into urban education.

12. Teaching Fellow TNTP - Operating in more than a dozen U.S. cities, TNTP’s Teaching Fellows programs hold the highest standards for the effective teaching of any teacher preparation program in America. 

    Are you willing to work with these programs to help our schools?

    With all these resources we should be able to create multiple pipelines that will fill our schools. Even though these are alternative certifications there is a lot of value here! With the appropriate amount of mentorship and coaching, everyone that comes from an alternative certification has a great chance to become highly effective.

We need emergency credentials now! Here is the thing, yes we need help but we need to do a better job valuing the people we have now. Pay matters!

Citations:

Chen, G. (2020, October 27). National Education Standards: Both sides of the debate. Public School Review. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/national-education-standards-both-sides-of-the-debate

Lambert, D. (2022, August 4). Nearly 1 out of 5 classes in California taught by underprepared teachers. EdSource. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://edsource.org/2022/nearly-one-out-of-five-classes-in-california-taught-by-under-prepared-teachers/674906

Scicchitanoerics@cnhinews.com, E. (2022, October 14). Report: More Pa. Teachers hired under emergency permits than received formal certifications. CNHI News. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.cnhinews.com/cnhi/article_5cb48f94-4b40-11ed-8184-eb8733ebc835.html

Semuels, A. (2021, June 13). Good school, rich school; Bad School, Poor School. The Atlantic. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/property-taxes-and-unequal-schools/497333/

Teacher shortages take center stage. Learning Policy Institute. (2022, September 8). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/teacher-shortages-take-center-stage

Will, M. (2020, December 8). You no longer need a teaching degree to teach in Utah. Education Week. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2016/06/teaching_degree_utah.html