HB90

My name is Jennifer Theroux, and I am a resident of Derry. I am opposed to HB90. I believe HB90 will weaken our state’s teaching credentials and attract unqualified candidates to teach in public schools. Rather than broaden the teacher criteria to attract teachers to school districts, I believe that the State of NH needs to fulfill its constitutional obligation to adequately fund a public education. With more state funding, small communities and/or property poor communities that rely heavily on property taxpayers will be able to attract more highly qualified teachers to their schools districts. Support qualified teachers by fully funding education at the state level.

I oppose using uncertified persons as substitute teachers. This will degrade the quality of the education for NH students.

All teachers, part or full time should need to hold appropriate credentials.

I am a 37 year retired NH public school educator. I am sad to think that after all my schooling, staff development hours, and continued life long learning that NH thinks ANYONE can come into a classroom and follow lesson plans! Would you hire a non-licensed Dr., lawyer, plumber? NH is ruining public education and our children are suffering. They must be educated to become active members of society. I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS BILL AND I AM SORRY THAT IT IS EVEN UP FOR A VOTE. SHAME ON NH!

As a member of the public I am against dissolving, reducing or eradicating credentialing standards of anyone intending to take on a teaching/instruction position. In my view the years of education and additional professional training and development is what keeps educators up today in many ways—from instruction to policy and law. . High quality teaching standards is highly correlated with high achieving students in a school. In addition, the process sorts out criminals and those on the sexual offenders register. Without firm teaching and safety standards neither students or taxpayers are served properly. submitter by mollie allen

I oppose this bill because I do not support the concept that anyone who has been hired as an adjunct instructor is automatically qualified to teach in public schools, especially part time. There are already alternative routes to gaining teaching certification, and this is not the way to go. Teaching under the supervision, guidance, and mentorship of an experienced teacher is a critical component of teacher education programs that should not be bypassed. Think about this comparison: just because someone has been driving a car for a while, that doesn’t mean that they should be driving a tractor trailer without training and practice before going out in traffic. That’s a crash waiting to happen, and other’s lives are affected. As a former teacher and student, I can say that there’s a similar risk to students, for many reasons. Knowledge of subject matter is only a part of what goes into becoming a good teacher, creating a safe place for children to learn. Underpaid itinerant persons working at multiple positions in order to earn a living are not likely to be able to be part of the school community, reducing their ability to be effective and to communicate with their students and colleagues. When you consider this bill, I urge you to think of that undertrained tractor trailer driver coming up behind you, and to reject it.. Thank you for considering this testimony.

I oppose lowering the overall standard of teachers in New Hampshire. This is a profession that requires a high skill level to bring out the best in every student. It is no different for part time teachers! Thank you, Heather Duffley

Good teaching requires education, experience, and support. NH already has many options for licensing teachers who may not have completed a traditional teacher training program. Allowing unlicensed part-time teachers will rarely result in improved learning for students or lowered costs for schools.

I'm a teacher and parent in NH and this bill is bad for our schools and for education in NH.

Teachers who have a degree in the subject area and are working towards certification under a mentor would be one thing. But this bill appears to be one more way to undermine public education. I strongly oppose it.

Dear Mr. Chair & Members of the House Education Policy and Administration Committee: I am writing to oppose HB90-FN, relative to the definition of part-time teachers. I believe it is a bad idea to have instructors in classrooms that are not certified teachers, because it lowers the standards for excellent public education. Under the new Education 306 Rules pushed through JLCAR this winter, the definition of “classroom ratio” included a teacher, who under statute must be certified. If this legislation goes through, minimum academic standards for schools could mean packed classrooms with “part time” teachers who are not certified instructors. This is a back door, work around to allow property poor districts to avoid paying real teachers to instruct our public schools kids & will degrade our state’s excellent public education. I urge the committee to reject the premise of HB90 and to vote ITL when the bill comes up for executive session voting. Thank you. Rep. Mary Hakken-Phillips

I oppose this bill. Part-time teachers should still be required to have completed their licensure to teach.

As a former teacher in New Hampshire I believe that this bill will hurt the education system and the teachers

Teaching is a complex career field that requires the appropriate education and certification. Please don't dumb down our profession by removing requirements that teachers must be certified. Education is a multifaceted and complex job. We need certified professionals who are up to the task, not those who do not also understand the complexities of child development and HOW children learn.

We need qualified educators to teach our students.

All teachers in public school should be certified!

Teachers need to be credentialed!!

As a teacher and parent in New Hampshire, it is unquestionable to me that we need qualified, educated, certified, and experienced teachers in our classrooms. There is no productive classroom in which a common adult without experience or courses of accreditation can just decide to be a teacher and educate the youth of New Hampshire

Our public school students need and deserve full-time, fully-committed, certified teachers, particularly in the lower grades.

As a teacher of future teachers and an educator for over two decades, I vehemently oppose this ridiculous bill. So much training, knowledge, experience, and education goes into the curriculum and coursework for education majors to prepare them for the classroom. To say someone teaching doesn’t need any of that, and can just wing it, It undermines the current teachers, future teachers, administrators, devaluing the hard work, energy and experience that go into a degree and certification to teach. You’re also setting NH students up for failure by putting an unqualified and unknowledgeable person in the classroom, who likely has zero classroom management skills as well. This is a terrible idea that will cause irreparable harm.

Nope nope nope. Would you want an unqualified doctor who works part time? An unlicensed bus driver who works part time? A chef who never passed the basic food safety exams who works part time? A daycare provider who doesn’t have First Aid CPR cert who works part time? A police officer who doesn’t have basic training but works part time? No? Then toss this bill out too. The adults who work with our students must demonstrate somehow that they have the necessary skills, training, and experience to deliver quality education, regardless if they teach 5 courses a day or only 2.

The idea of lowering the bar for teachers is the same as lowering the bar for our students.

Let’s not do this! The education of NH’s children is too important to hand over to unqualified teachers.

Studies have shown that teacher quality is the most powerful indicator of student achievement within the school. New Hampshire teachers are professionals who have undergone high-quality education programs, whether "traditional" or alternative pathways, that help build the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively serve their students. We don’t need any unlicensed teachers.