SB 4, the teacher quality bill by GOP Sen. Florence Shapiro, is eligible for a vote this week in the Senate. This is a good bill for students and teachers, which is why senators shouldn't hesitate to pass it.
As discussed here before, the bill would require new teachers to go through a three-year provisional period before they earn a full teaching certificate. During that time, their schools could help them identify their strengths and work with them on their weaknesses.
SB 4 also would create a career plan for teachers. Once they identify their goals, they and their principals could work on ways to achieve them, such as becoming a mentor-teacher.
Another plus of SB 4 is that it would require teachers who want to become instructors from early childhood through fourth grade to show that they actually know math, science, social studies or English language arts. They also would have to take a science of reading class. Generalist don't always know how to
