In California, thousands of teachers missing needed credentials
This story was edited by Robert Salladay and copy edited by Nikki Frick and Christine Lee.
Daniel Anderson/California Watch Charlie Parker, a longtime biology teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, was assigned for two years to teach history and social studies – subjects he’s not licensed to teach. Thousands of teachers in California’s public schools every year are placed in classes they lack the credentials or legal authorizations to teach.On his first day teaching U.S. history, world history and economics at McAlister High School in Los Angeles nearly four years ago, Parker struggled to keep his course materials straight and handed a student the wrong textbook. Some days, his students’ questions went unanswered or were directed to the Internet. Later, Parker
State’s calculation of teacher misassignments gives skewed rate
Daniel Anderson/California Watch Charlie Parker, a longtime biology teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, was assigned for two years to teach history and social studies – subjects he’s not licensed to teach. Thousands of teachers in California’s public schools every year are placed in classes they lack the credentials or legal authorizations to teach.
Teachers are required by law to have appropriate credentials, authorizations or permits for the subjects and students they teach.But in California every year, thousands of teachers do not. They instruct English-language learners without the training to do so, teach U.S. history when they’re licensed to teach biology and serve students with disabilities
Teacher job satisfaction at 25-year low
Job satisfaction among public school principals and teachers has decreased in the past five years, with teacher satisfaction reaching its lowest levels in 25 years, according to survey results released Thursday. Only 39 percent of teachers reported being very satisfied in their job, and more than half said they felt under “great stress” several days a week, the 29th annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher found. The findings come at a time when nearly every state around the country has adopted some sort of significant education reform in the past two years, including revising academic standards and implementing new teacher evaluation systems. Advocates say that many of these reforms, such as merit pay and the elimination of seniority-based layoffs, will help attract a higher-quality candidate to the profession. But Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, a nonprofit group that promotes higher academic standards, said he was concerned by the job satisfaction numbers and what they said about the general public’s view of educators. “What struck me most,” he said during a conference call hosted by MetLife to discuss the findings, “[is that] they are operating in an environment of public discourse that