Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/851305
8 ADVOCATE | SUMMER 2017 at the capitol The Bad While we stopped a lot of bad bills that were moving through the legislative process, there were a few bad bills that were signed into law. Categorized in the bad section, we have the Governor and Arizona Chamber of Commerce's push to dilute the professional teaching standards. This was their solution to the teacher shortage crisis in Arizona, "streamline the certification process" through SB1042 (teacher certification; reciprocity). You'll recall during the Governor's State of the State address, he stated that Sandra Day O'Connor would not be able to teach in Arizona today, his solution, water down the professional teaching standards so that anyone with a bachelor's degree and a fingerprint card could walk into a classroom and teach. AEA continues to be strongly opposed to this law, as we do not believe this will alleviate the teacher shortage, rather it will expand it. We argued that this legislation will create additional burdens on experienced teachers who will have to take on the responsibility of mentoring inexperienced teachers that do not have professional knowledge proficiency. Bills Passed that AEA Opposed Teacher Certification and Professional Teaching Standards "The legislature and governor had an opportunity to address the teacher shortage crisis through increased compensation," says Arizona Education Association (AEA) President Joe Thomas. "Instead, they chose to lower the standards of who can teach in a classroom. Effectively, they are embracing the teacher shortage crisis. It will remain with Arizona until our elected officials address compensation in a meaningful way." Several recent teacher surveys, including the ASU Morrison Institute, have found low pay to be the biggest factor in teachers deciding to leave the classroom. AEA and the AZ Schools Now coalition has put forth a proposal to the governor that would give teachers a four percent raise, but have received no response. "The Governor's plan invites people without any preparation and without any classroom experience to educate our children," says Thomas. "We already have great teachers in the classroom who are succeeding with their students, despite being the lowest paid teachers nationally, and who are working with some of the largest class sizes in the nation. By signing this bill, the Governor is further burdening our teachers with the additional responsibility of training new, unprepared colleagues how to teach. All this does is set up a churn-and-burn model of low- wage teachers who will continue to leave after a few years, and our children will continue to suffer for the profit of adults." SB1042 (teacher certification; reciprocity) • Prohibits the State Board of Education (SBE) from adopting rules governing charter school teachers that exceed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). • Removes references to provisional certificates. • Replaces specialized teaching certificates for persons with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) expertise with "subject matter expert" standard teaching certificates for individuals with expertise in a content area and modifies requirements to obtain the certificate. This "Subject Matter Expert Standard certificate" is for people who possess any advanced degree substantially similar or relevant to a content area or who have ten years of experience in a field substantially similar or relevant to a content area. These teachers are exempt from the professional knowledge proficiency requirements and will be granted to teachers with a valid fingerprint clearance card, and who • Taught at a college for three years in a field that is substantially similar or relevant to a content area, or • Has a bachelor's degree, masters degree, or doctoral degree in similar or relevant content area, or • Worked 5 years in a similar or relevant field. • Exempts persons with a bachelor's degree in a relevant content area from the subject knowledge portion. • Removes the requirement for applicants for standard or reciprocal certificates to take the proficiency examination if the person has been a full-time teacher in any state for at least two years in the same area of certification in which the person is applying for certification in this state. • Allows districts and charters to certify teachers, with the only standards that the teacher make "satisfactory progress and achievement with students" for two years where the teacher's students are performing at grade level or have shown one year of growth. Districts or charters that do this must submit data showing the efficacy of their program. • Retroactively approves the application of alternate preparation providers and requires the SBE to reinstate providers who were denied renewal or had their status revoked and prohibits SBE from revoking or denying the renewal of alternative providers until new rules have been adopted. • Prohibits alternative preparation program providers that were approved by January 1, 2015 and are a 501(c)(3) that operates in multiple states from having their status as an alternative provider revoked or denied by SBE and requires SBE to conditionally approve relevant providers for at least five years.