Jumping ahead of the expected release today of the Assembly’s version of Race to the Top legislation, Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande of Palm Desert has introduced three bills of his own.

Two deal with alternative ways to bring teachers into the profession. The third would make it slightly easier to get rid of those who end up performing badly.

At Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s urging, legislators are considering ways that might improve the state’s shot at a piece of the U.S. Department of Education’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition. Nestande’s bills would tangentially address what Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has targeted as the biggest priority of Race to the Top funding: ways to improve teacher performance.

ABX5-5 would create the biggest change. It would enable non-traditional organizations – business groups or charter schools, perhaps – to begin awarding teacher credentials, just as California Start University campuses do.

University education departments  have been broadly criticized for mediocre credentialing programs. So one can make a case for alternative programs for attracting candidates  to teaching – especially those entering the profession mid-career.   In additon, charter school organizations may want to train their own teachers with different values and skills. (High Tech High, a charter management organization in San Diego, already does run its own credentialing program.)

But rather than greatly allowing new credentialing organizations, some of which may be equally mediocre, the Legislature may want to experiment more narrowly. It may take a cue from outside organizations that push for the bill’s passage – assuming there are any.

ABX5-6 would expand another non-traditional route to teaching: a rarely used “eminence” credential  given to those who have demonstrated professional achievements in the subject area in which they plan to teach. An example might be an acclaimed physicist who wants to teach high school physics. An eminence credential is a way around having to spend a year taking university courses to get a teaching credential. The state Commission on Teacher  Credentialing can award these credentials; the bill would allow county offices of education to do so as well.

There is a need to attact more professionals from the business world into teaching. However, it’s also critical that prospective teachers understand what they’re getting into and know how to teach a diverse student population. It’s not clear that broadly expanding the eminence credential is the right option.

AB X5-7 would delve into the problematic area of evaluating teachers. Teachers currently can be fired for poor performance, although it’s been hard and expensive,   because of litigation, for districts to make the case. This bill would allow districts to use student test results as a basis for setting a professional improvement plan as part of an unsatisfactory job evaluation. A subsequent failure to meet those improvement goals would be a criterion for dismissal.

By John Fensterwald on December 2nd, 2009