State Board Passes TN Teacher Licensure Rules But Delays Until 2015

At Friday’s board meeting, the Tennessee Board of Education also upped the cut-off score for the PRAXIS exam taken by teachers-to-be.
Credit: Cybrarian77 via Flickr

The Tennessee Board of Education has approved controversial new licensure rules for teachers, taking into account student achievement data in the renewal process for the first time. However, the new standard was delayed by one year and won’t kick in until August of 2015.

The board chair said he was open to modifying some of the particulars over the next two years. Board member Mike Edwards of Knoxville agreed with the notion, saying most people feel the licensing standards should be raised somehow.

“We’ve got a proposal and a whole lot of ‘we don’t like it,’” he said.

After much discussion, the vote was 6-3. The “no” votes included Jean Anne Rogers of Murfreesboro.

“We’re voting for it but we’re just going to delay it and study more but the policy is the policy?” Rogers asked on a conference call meeting. “I just have such serious concerns with some of the issues.”

Teachers have vocally opposed the use of student achievement data in renewing licenses, saying that the numbers aren’t reliable enough to be the basis of a career-ending decision.

The board of education met and voted during a conference call that became – at times – chaotic, primarily because of technical problems. But at one point, a dog even began barking.

“That is hilarious,” one anonymous caller laughed.

“Well it’s not in our building,” Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said.

It was the Education Department’s idea to raise the bar on license renewals, but Huffman has agreed to take a second look for possible tweaks.