Tennessee’s Speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, says the proposal would address the state’s teacher shortage.
by Olivia Dague – WBIR TV News 10 – Knoxville, Tennessee
KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Retired public school teachers are expressing strong opposition to a plan proposed by Tennessee’s speaker of the House that would allow teachers to enter the classroom with a two-year associate degree. Currently, teachers in the state must hold a four-year bachelor’s degree.
“I feel like it shows a lack of respect for the profession. And a lack of respect or care for our students. To want less for our children? How can you want less?” Candace Bannister, a retired Knox County educator, said.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposal is intended to help address a statewide teacher shortage. He says there are about 2,000 teacher vacancies across Tennessee.
In February, the Professional Educators of Tennessee reported that around 45% of Tennessee schools have openings.
Sexton said allowing a two-year degree could help fill those positions.
But some longtime educators said the issue is larger than the qualifications required to teach, and that lowering the standard is not the answer.
“This type of statement made by those who are leading our state, is just exceptionally troublesome,” said Dewayne Emmert, who taught in Anderson County for 39 years. “It is the most important job that we’ll ever do, and it truly is a hard, hard job, and you need all the education and information at your disposal,” Emmert said.
He is opposed to Sexton’s proposal to allow teachers to enter the classroom with an associate degree instead of a bachelor’s degree — the current requirement.
“We have an issue and the easiest thing to do is say let’s just don’t require as much and that’s gonna bring people in,” Bannister said. “I certainly could not have done it [teaching] with less education.”
WBIR brought those concerns to Sexton.
“I don’t view it as lowering the standards,” he said. “How I view it, is as an accelerated path to get to the classroom through community colleges through a two-year, highly specialized degree.”
Sexton said teachers would have ACT standards, internship requirements, and would have to pass the teacher certification test, called the Praxis.
Former teachers argue the shortage stems from low wages, a lack of support, and what they describe as declining respect for the profession.
“We have a teacher shortage in our state because the teachers now, instead of being our hope for education, are where we put the blame for education,” Bannister said.
Sexton said the goal is to remove barriers like student debt, and he pointed to changing attitudes among younger Tennesseans.
“I think you also have the four-year colleges who have increased their standards to get in, which is fine, but also you have kids now in this generation who don’t want to go to a four-year college,” Sexton said. “You have a lot of people currently with a bachelor’s degree that takes 2 years to get into the classroom, which is too long, so we need to work on both of those at the same time.”
But educators said maintaining high standards is critical.
“It’s even more important now that we have those trained educators in our classrooms … it’s almost as if the legislature is fighting that and I don’t know why,” Emmert said.
Those retired teachers said recent legislation, including school vouchers, signals to them that public education is not the state’s priority. Sexton says increased funding and teacher pay over the last 15 years tell a different story.
