Acting Governor Cellucci has fallen for the ruse . I like the idea of more emphasis on academics, he said. But there will be no such emphasis. Cellucci had it right when, before he became a candidate for governor, he supported abolishing all certification requirements. For the most part, teachers are born, not made.
Teaching is primarily a matter of having knowledge to impart and a knack for imparting it.
The knack is a matter of individual personality and presence, best discovered by experience, and not gained by pedagogues imparting methods. Certification in education has resulted in poorer, not better, teachers. Control of the credentialing process by schools of education is the principal impediment to improving the teacher corps. All college graduates with strong academic records should be able to teach in their major fields. It would then become clear that college training in pedagogy is a fraud that wastes time and money while lowering academic standards.