Making it ?hard to ?hire best

To understand why the U.S. education system is mired in mediocrity, start by listening to Scott McKim’s story.

McKim has a master’s degree in watershed science, an undergraduate degree in meteorology, with minors in math and physics, and statewide teacher-of-the-year honors for his work as a math and science teacher at a middle school in Alaska. He also helped develop a charter school devoted to outdoor education and STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math – and managed to get a second master’s in teaching.

As STEM subjects become increasingly important, McKim is exactly the kind of teacher the U.S. needs more of. Yet now, at least in New York state, he can’t get a job teaching at a public school.

McKim got his teaching certification from Vermont and taught middle school science and math. But when he tried to get certified in New York state, he was told, in effect: Go back to school.

- Advertisement -

In New York, McKim could have taken exams to become certified to teach Earth science – but nothing else.

To teach math and physics in New York, McKim needed 10 more credits in physics and eight more credits in math. For McKim, investing the time and money necessary to prove his academic credentials – after all he had already achieved – “wasn’t too appealing.”

Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the state education department, declined to comment on McKim’s case, but said that certification requires coursework equivalent to an undergraduate major.

Of course, a successful career does not a great teacher make. But rather than ruling them categorically unqualified, if they can’t cut it as teachers, allow them to be fired, as would happen in any other profession. But rather than making it easier to fire bad teachers, states are making it harder to hire good ones.

Despite being deemed unqualified, McKim moved to New York anyway and eventually found a teaching job – as an adjunct college professor. That’s a loss for the local middle school students, and a troubling sign for the future of education in the U.S. •

No posts to display