Do NC lawmakers want our kids to be less educated? That’s what this bill will do | Opinion

What if the so-called Public School Operational Relief bill introduced by Republican members of the North Carolina House had instead been a Medical Treatment Relief Bill that required only 50% of our doctors and nurses to be licensed to practice? Would we feel assured that our health care would be improved?

The Public School Operational Relief bill would allow 50%, rather than 100%, of our public school teachers to be licensed.

Any legislator paying attention to the research on teacher quality over the last 30 years would know that the most impactful in-school factor on student success is quality of the teacher. Only parents have a greater overall impact on student success.



An informed North Carolina legislator seeking ways to improve student performance would know that research confirms that students taught by prepared and certified teachers consistently score higher on state and national tests than students taught by non-certified, under certified or emergency licensed teachers.

If they knew and understood this truth, wouldn’t they be proposing legislation to strengthen teacher licensing to better assure that all students are taught by fully licensed teachers rather than abandoning teaching standards?



Legislators could readily learn that some of the nationally significant research on teacher quality occurred right here in North Carolina. The groundbreaking research at the SAS Institute (in collaboration with UNC General Administration) confirmed that students who had effective teachers three years in a row showed a significant increase in their percentile rankings on state examinations, regardless of socioeconomic factors. Do legislators think SAS and UNC General Administration would release false data?



Not every licensed teacher will prove to become an effective teacher, of course. That is true for all professions, from licensed barbers to surgeons. It is also true that some unlicensed individuals may develop into effective teachers. But the research is clear: students of prepared state-certified teachers have higher academic success than students taught by non-licensed teachers. Teacher certification matters. Why would any legislator not understand and support teacher licensure for all teachers in our public and private schools?



To pass into law a bill that would allow 50% of our public school teaching force to be unlicensed would be to condemn thousands of N.C. students to academic underperformance, particularly in science and mathematics since it is already difficult to find licensed teachers in those subjects.

But the damage will not end there. Evidence shows that students of those licensed to teach reading, a skill critical for young children, outperform those taught by non-licensed teachers. Given past concerns by the General Assembly to improve reading, why would they undermine the teaching of this subject?



Finally, we know right now who will be most negatively impacted by this proposed legislation. It will be children from poorer and under-educated families, children with disabilities and children in rural North Carolina. As is current practice, these children will be on the frontlines of being taught by non-licensed teachers. We know this because we have research data to support this assertion. Why are members of the General Assembly okay with this inequity?



The proposed bill is a ruse to further undermine public education, pure and simple, and it comes at the cost of the miseducation of thousands of unsuspecting children. Shame on legislators’ proposing to weaken North Carolina’s teacher licensure laws. They would not want, nor likely tolerate, having their own children or grandchildren taught by unprepared teachers. Why would they want anything less for other families?