Today’s comments from readers point to some debate about the worth of teacher credentials.
Tony, a parent of a high school student, says:
I’m no mathematician but I certainly knew more than his math teacher. It’s a shame. Sometimes administrators think of a teacher as more of a placeholder, a babysitter and some kind of actor. No wonder, then, that the kids disrespect them and the kids’ disrespect makes it even less likely that qualified people might choose to teach instead of go on to be engineers.
Mr. Middleton, who appears to be a teacher in the San Diego Unified School District, says he sees teachers without full credentials in the classroom, and teachers instructing outside of their credentialed subject matter, albeit with the OK from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC):
I know of at least three high schools in SD Unified (ours will be the fourth next year) that have English/Language Arts teachers teaching Film Studies classes. Although Film Studies is listed as a Fine Arts course, the CCTC said it was legal for ELA teachers to teach Film Studies.
Reader Billy Bob Henry, who says he’s been through the credentialing program, says:
I … can state without hesitation it is useless, a waste of time, money and effort. No standardized test at the conclusion to validate the process and proves nothing as to being prepared for a classroom.
And a student writes in to say he resents being held to increasingly higher standards while his teachers presumably are not:
I think it’s funny that the state raises educational standards for students. We are constantly being ‘tested.’ When are we going to raise the standards for our teachers? Maybe we should more thoroughly test them.
What’s your take? Do you have a unique perspective on San Diego’s educational system?