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Exciting news to finish off an exciting week: the House Education Finance committee just voted in favor of a bill that would certify talented teachers and get them into our neediest classrooms faster. The bill would enable teachers from other states to teach without having to get re-certified in Minnesota as well as allow districts to recognize teaching licenses obtained from out-of-state colleges and universities. A similar bill has already passed the Senate education committee.
Removing roadblocks for teachers is one of the three goals of our legislative campaign, School Emergency in Effect. Getting certified should not be about jumping through hoops, but rather about learning how to, well, teach. There are several alternate teaching programs that effectively recruit and train talented teachers, including Teach for America, and this bill will help the teachers in those programs get certified as quickly as possible. And the sooner they're certified, the sooner they can start making a difference for our kids.
The passage of an alternate teacher certification bill through the House and Senate is exciting, but it still has a long way to go before it is passed and signed into law. In the coming days we'll be calling on you to advocate for this bill, so stay tuned. Together we can make sure that we clear the roadblocks that are keeping great teachers out of our classrooms.