Bills moved to loosen teacher certification

(The Center Square) – The House Education Committee moved a package of bills forward they hope will help to address the teaching shortage.

While several of the bills passed unanimously, one lowering the GPA requirement for prospective teachers met resistance from members who expressed concern about the implications it would have for educational standards.

Those who support the bill, which would lower the required GPA for those entering teacher preparation programs from 3.0 to 2.8 say that GPA is just one indicator of someone’s ability to succeed as an educator.

“Intellect and the ability to connect with students should go hand in hand,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Regina Young, D-Philadelphia. “However such is not always the case.”

The representative pointed out that someone could have a 4.0 GPA and still be “as deep as a puddle.” She emphasized the ability to connect with students over the ability to perform well on tests and through other academic measures.

Some legislators like Rep. Jim Prokopiak, D-Levittown, recalled their own experiences struggling to bring up a GPA in college, affirming that it’s “just a number.” He said he was able to excel in law school at Temple University after spending most of his undergraduate career trying to recover from a tough first semester at West Chester.

“Success comes in many different factors, and we shouldn’t artificially put a number on something,” said Prokopiak. “We have a teacher shortage here, and we are taking qualified candidates out of the pool on an arbitrary number.”

Others don’t see it the same way, saying that teachers should be expected to excel with the same demands expected of their students. Rep. Marc Anderson, R-Dillsburg, argued against removing barriers in favor of helping students do “the hard part.”

Reflecting on his 27-year career in teaching and coaching, “I don’t think I’ve ever said to a student, ‘We’re going to lower the standard,’” said Anderson.

Others agreed or saw some middle ground. Rep. Barb Gleim, R-Carlisle, suggested that the teaching shortage is primarily in STEM and foreign languages, both fields in which a teacher’s academic performance would be highly relevant. She suggested amending the bill to take that into account.

Narrowing GPA requirements to courses within a teacher’s specialization or demanding different GPA’s for different specializations could address some of those disparities.

It ultimately passed the committee 17-9, drawing some support from both parties.

Five other bills intended to ease the path for entering the teaching profession passed the committee. They included lowering teaching certification fees and allowing inactive teachers to return to work while completing continual professional education during in-service days.

Another bill would expand certification levels. This would mean teachers certified to teach primary school could teach from pre-K to 6th grade while secondary school teachers could teach 6th through 12th grade.

Another two bills would expand access to CTE certification. One would extend the length of time professionals could use their certification to teach CTE and update the name from intern certification to “second career certification.” The other would allow military experience to count toward CTE certification.