A few years ago with the No Child Left Behind Act being brought to the forefront, many middle school teachers of 15+ years were up in arms over the so-called mandatory subject certification. Many teachers who began teaching in their particular subject never officially became certified and were waiting to hear what each state official ruling were in regards to their future employment.
Due to the many changes in certification laws for teachers and each state following there own system, many middle school teachers are certified from Kindergarten through eighth grade for general education studies. Over 15 years ago, there were different teacher certification programs established and when a principal would ask you to take on a certain subject to teach, there was no question; especially if meant losing or keeping your job.
So when this ruling became public, middle school teachers, many who had a few years till retirement, all said they would just retire over going back to school to get a certification of the subject they have been teaching for 20 years. Luckily the NCLB didn’t stand a chance and was recently found the entire act a joke!
I am upset that the NCLB didn’t make a huge impact on our educational system today. The point of this act was to make sure all students, no matter where they live, would receive the same type of education. Unfortunately when this plan was first introduced, each state and school district has a budget which needs to be followed. A suburbia school which allocates $10,000 per student each year can’t be compared to an urban school which the state has taken over and only allocates $3,000 a year per student.
Although the NCLB was a good plan of trying to start making a difference in the educational systems of America, it has not made the grade to where teachers were hoping for when it was introduced in 2000. Middle school teachers do not have to worry about subject certification and all students will continue learning to the best their school can offer.