REPA III – The Wrong Direction
Yesterday, by a vote of 7 Ayes to 3 Nays, the Indiana State Board of Education passed REPA III, rules which define the qualifications for public school educators. This version contains the Career Specialist Permit which gives non-educational professionals the right to teach in Indiana high schools.
LOCAL CONTROL
Why did David Frietas, a lifelong educator who has spent much of his professional career working with educators, vote for this. Referring to REPA III he said,
“We give a lot of lip-service to local control of public schools and I see this issue as an opportunity to reinforce and affirm our great school principals, great school board and great superintendents to make that decision for allowing people to have a pathway into the profession,” Freitas said. “But the gatekeepers should not be at the state level. … That is best done by the local school board.”
Does he really believe that or is he being disingenuous? Consider…
Does he believe that testing requirements should be under local control? Does he believe that local school systems should choose what tests to use, how often to administer them and what to do with the results?
Does he believe that curriculum decisions should be under local control? Does he believe that local school systems should choose their own textbooks and standards?
How is REPA III different than any other aspect of public education which is decided at the state level? Why isn’t he pushing to remove state involvement from other areas of public education? Why did he agree to sit on the state board of education where he is part of a group which makes policy decisions “at the state level.” If he is in favor of local control, why did he accept appointment as one of the state level “gatekeepers?”
THE NAYS
Thanks to professional educators Glenda Ritz, Brad Oliver, and Troy REPA III – The Wrong Direction | Live Long and Prosper: