Lawmakers give up on standardized testing; and move to cancel certain teacher credential requirements
Lawmakers in Olympia are moving legislation (HB 1599) to repeal the requirement that students pass a standardized test to graduate from high school. Every year about 15,000 students fail the test, even after twelve years of attending the state’s public schools.
The proposed repeal is the latest in a long series of failed efforts to use state-imposed test taking to improve public education, including the WASL, Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Washington Learns, PASS Drop-Out Prevention, College Readiness Test, End of Course Tests, the Common Core, and many, many others.
After all these efforts, school officials still send about 54,000 students to the over 250 state-identified failing public schools. None of the top-down programs achieved their promised goals, and now today’s lawmakers are moving to repeal the work of yesterday’s lawmakers.
Further, lawmakers are working on HB 1621, a bill sponsored by Rep. Ybarra (R-Yakima) to cancel the credential requirement that teachers pass the state test in reading, writing and mathematics, allowing candidates to use alternate standards to demonstrate their skills. The bill passed the House unanimously, and has been forwarded to the Senate.
The move to repeal rigid credential mandates is positive, since they mostly work to keep talented and experienced people out of the teaching profession. It will also help public schools compete for the best instructors on the same basis as private schools.
For years private schools have been free to hire the best talent available because their teachers are exempt from union membership and state credential mandates (see RCW 28A.195.010). Administrators at one private school say they hardly pay attention to the state’s credential rules, because they are too busy hiring advanced STEM graduates and PhDs.
Public schools should be given the same freedom, so public school children can benefit from the best teachers on an equal basis as their peers in private schools.
State-mandated certificates provide no guarantee of an effective teacher, as research shows here, although they do contribute to union control over public schools. Washington’s expensive and burdensome credential requirements are the main cause of the state’s persistent teacher shortages.
Every day parents use smart phones, mobile apps and the internet to make choices that improve the lives of their children. One place where parental choice is not allowed is in a public school. Ending state-imposed testing mandates, and easing union membership and credential restrictions to widen the teacher pool, are welcome indicators that education policy may finally be catching up to the modern world.