THE ISSUE: A new law was enacted in July to decrease the number of teachers in charter schools that are required to hold teaching licenses. Some see the benefit of this policy as keeping teachers in North Carolina while others argue that it lowers teacher quality. Two editorial board members share their sides. View the other side of the issue.
As students, we know that success in a classroom often has more to do with the way the course is taught than the subject matter itself.
This legislation is lowering the quality of education in charter schools.
Sure, charter schools are a place to try out new teaching methods, but none of these experiments should come at the cost of damaging a student’s education.
We want to keep teachers in the state, but lowering our standards certainly isn’t the way to do it.
The state should encourage master’s degrees and reward this certification with higher pay.
I can imagine some of the types of people who will soon be in charge of half of all charter school classrooms — scientists with degrees in biochemistry and qualified businessmen. As smart as these people may be, they probably don’t know a thing about teaching.
Having knowledge to share isn’t the same thing as being able to relay it to others in an engaging and productive way while also knowing how to keep control of a group of easily distracted children.
What about people who want to enter the teaching profession but are simply not passionate enough about education to bother with a license? Are these the types of educators we want in our classrooms?
