The Utah House Democratic Caucus, led by Assistant Whip Joel Briscoe, has hand-delivered a letter today to the Utah State Board of Education demanding a public hearing on a rule creating an alternative path to teacher certification recently voted on by board members.
Representative Briscoe released the following statement, outlining the intent of the letter and accompanying actions.
“This is a significant change in how we recruit and retain the people we trust to educate our children. The public deserves to know every last detail, and weigh in on whether or not this band-aid type action is really what is best for Utah schools. We need effective teachers who are properly trained in communicating important life skills, including school curriculum, in our classrooms. We need to keep those teachers by offering competitive salaries, professional development opportunities and benefits. We need students today who are considering the profession to know that when they graduate there will be a worthwhile, fulfilling job waiting for them. Changing our certification doesn’t change our culture, and it may end up hurting our kids.”
