Two Republican members of the Michigan House of Representatives are looking to completely dismantle the current hiring requirements for teachers in the state, Eclectablog reported.
Rep. Gary Glenn introduced legislation earlier this week that would essentially allow Michigan schools to hire anyone they want as a teacher, regardless of the applicant’s education level or certification.
Currently, Michigan only allows for the the hiring of non-certified teachers under certain circumstances. Applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree in the subject they are going to teach from an accredited college, must pass both basic skills and subject area tests if they are going to teach for more than one year, and, except if teaching a foreign language, must have had at least two years of work experience in the subject they are going to teach.
If passed, Rep. Glenn’s bill gets rid of all the current requirements and would require no training as an educator, allowing school board members to hire whomever they choose to teach Michigan’s children.
Rep. Todd Courser, a member of the House Education Committee, posted a rant on Facebook in which he calls the public education system as being run by “top down soviet style central planners” and says schools should be a “ministry of the church.”
The fact that these two men have any say in public education is deeply troubling. Teaching is one of the toughest and most thankless jobs someone can have, and states should not be in the business of teaching scriptures to their students. Reps. Glenn and Courser’s complete lack of understanding of education as a whole only stands to damage Michigan’s children.
