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RE: NEW YORK PREFERS DIVERSITY OVER LITERACY SKILLS
This is an interesting response to the problem.
Black and Hispanic teachers are not passing the exam so let's scrap the exam.
How about finding out why they are not passing the exam and giving them the help they need to pass?
There seems to be no human element to this sort of thing. It's all about numbers expressed in reports.
Teaching is a hard job, and good teachers are very rare. I know this from my many years as a teacher. If you have minorities that are willing to step into the roll, but are lacking in certain skills, you upskill them. that just makes sense.
You don't take away the requirement for skill. That helps nobody - expect those that need to fill quotas to get their bonuses.
Right, the other approach just seems to be making a larger problem.
Yup.
See, take you for instance. You would be an awesome teacher. You have the energy and you are interesting. You would easily be a classes favourite teacher.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that you would fail the literacy exam (you would ace it easily), but if that was all that was holing you back, wouldn't it be better for the students to give you the training you need to get you into the job where you could do so much good?
This just seems very short-sighted to me. Good teachers are about passion and an ability to connect with kids and inspire them. It doesn't matter what colour you are, or what ethnicity you are.
When I was working in a local high school we had a Maori maths teacher who was just amazing. She could take a class of disruptive problem children who didn't really want to do maths and get them excited about the subject.
I loved being in her class and seeing how she inspired the kids. Her English skills were not so hot, but that was not what she was there for.
Maybe the solution is for the guys making the decisions to get out of their offices and go into the schools and see what sort of people are needed and build their criteria around that.