Alternative Teacher Certification

A few days ago the St. Louis Post Dispatch highlighted a new law that took effect on August 28 allowing for business professionals to gain teacher certification in Missouri by completing the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence program.  Programs like these are sorely needed to attract more teachers to Missouri who already have real world experience and want to share it with our children.

It was very disheartening to see Otto Fajen of the MNEA call the program a "quick and dirty way"to address teacher shortages.  His concern of how long these teachers will last is nullified two paragraphs earlier.  According to program administrators, 85% of the program's teachers are in the classroom three years after being certified and 95% of the principals it surveyed found ABCTE-certified teachers to be as effective or more effective than its traditionally certified peers.

Hopefully, Missouri will recognize more programs like the ABCTE program.  A broad spectrum of experienced individuals teaching in our classrooms can only better our children's education. These experienced professionals know what it takes in the real world to succeed and that is knowledge our children need to advance in life.