By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
A conservative education expert says a New York teachers' group has no grounds to protest the city's firing of 3,000 uncertified teachers.
A group called the Progressive Action Caucus (PAC) has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city, claiming its teacher certification exam is culturally biased against African Americans and Hispanics.
The certification exam tests teachers' knowledge of liberal arts and sciences, with questions on topics such as equilibrium, linear relationships, experimental design, and graphed mathematical concepts. Teachers can retake the test an unlimited number of times, but must pass each section on one attempt to be certified. According to PAC officials, African American and Hispanic teachers' passing rate is about 40 percentage points lower than their White counterparts.
But Krista Kafer, senior education policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, says the liberal arts and science test is not racist. She notes that some of the uncertified teachers have failed the certification test 12 or 13 times, and feels the state Department of Education must maintain a high standard for the sake of the children.
“It's important at a minimum that teachers be able to know at least as much as the students. But optimally we want teachers that know more than the students,” she says.
While some of the teachers are protesting that the exam is overly complicated and fails to accommodate those for whom English is not their first language, Kafer says it is ridiculous for teachers to ask that the exam be watered down or administered in Spanish.
“English is what is spoken in this country. It is the language of commerce, the language of industry. And if kids can't graduate able to read and write, learning from teachers who are also proficient in the language, these kids are … going to graduate without the skills they need to be able to go to college or to get a good job,” she says.
Some teachers and their supporters demonstrated outside City Hall last week, urging the city to reconsider the firing of 10,000 uncertified teachers over the last five years. Meanwhile, the New York Department of Education denies that the certification exam is biased against minority teachers, and a decision in the case is expected this month.
Kafer says despite the growing number of children who cannot read and write in the city's schools, PAC and other advocates of the status quo will continue to demand more money and more programs.
According to the National Education Association, although nearly 40% U.S. school students belong to a racial or ethnic minority group, minorities make up only 10% of the nation's three million teachers.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
