All Students Deserve Professionally Certified Teachers

We recently told you that the SUNY Charter Committee introduced a proposal to allow adults with minimal training to be certified to teach in charter schools. The plan would only require a college degree, supervision by another charter school teacher and 30 hours of coursework provided by the charter school.

Send an email to the SUNY Board asking them to make sure that every New York student is taught by a professionally trained teacher.​ We make it easy. All you have to do is click here.​

If this plan moves forward, New York would have a two-tier system of teacher certification that would further the already inequitable treatment of children in our state. There would be a high standard for the teachers of students in public schools and a lesser standard for teachers in SUNY certified charters. As New York State increases its public school teacher requirements through the TEACH NY initiative supported by the same SUNY Board, the lowering of standards for charter school teachers is morally troubling–especially given that most charter students are students of color.

While the Network for Public Education has serious concerns regarding charter schools, we believe that the students who attend them deserve a professionally certified teacher who is trained beyond the narrow vision of charter school practices.

Send your email to the SUNY Board​ asking them to make sure that every New York student, charter or public, is taught by a professionally trained teacher. Then share the link to this email with family and friends.