Discussion for hB706 and sb181

Discussion for hB706 and sb181
to: senator tony rand
from: Jane s. whitehurst
subject: out-of-state teachers licensed to practice in north carolina
date: 5/5/2005
cc: rules and operations of the senate Committee
Dalton, Horton, Albertson, Apodaca, P.Berger, Brock, Clodfelter, Dorsett, Forrester, Hoyle, Kinnaird, Nesbitt, Pittenger, Soles, Swindell, Thomas
education/higher education committee
Lucas, Swindell, Garwood, Allran, D.Berger, Bingham, Dannelly, Garrou, Goodall, Graham, Hagan, Hartsell, Holloman, Jenkins, Malone, Purcell, Smith, Snow, Stevens, Tillman

1. HB706 (Facilitate Hiring of Teachers) in companion with SB181 (Reciprocity for Teachers from Other States) should be heard and passed this session.
a. North Carolina is in need of teachers.
b. Classes are being cut (if not taught by substitutes or provisionally licensed teachers)
c. A one-year trial period to monitor highly qualified out-of-state teachers is a great compromise.
2. Out-of-state teachers currently under provisional licensing requirements should be grandfathered.
a. These bills were written to end the strain for highly qualified professionals.
b. Superiorly trained teachers will be lost or must completely retrain.
3. No Child Left Behind is not being supported by North Carolina
a. The law mandates support for higher institutions to evaluate and improve teacher-training programs.
b. North Carolina does not have a Computer Science certification that other states provide.
4. North Carolina requires two certifications for the same curriculum depending on where you teach.
a. Some schools have Computer Science in the Math department
b. Some schools have Computer Science in the Business department.There is no reciprocal agreement with other states’ computer science teaching license, so teachers are asked to retrain in other fields to continue to teach Computer Science.