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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a new piece of legislation into law this week that would change what requirements are needed for teachers to instruct in a classroom.
Teachers no longer need a college degree to teach in a classroom. Instead, teachers only need to be enrolled on a college or university to get their degree in order to begin teaching at public schools, according to AZ Family. This new legislation makes it easier for teachers to get into the classroom, but it has been met with both positive and negative reactions.
"The situation will be even worse if you’re dealing with either younger people or even less well-educated people," said Jens Larson, a former teacher with the Phoenix Union High School District.
“It could work, obviously there’s no one size fits all plan. I’m a teacher, and I taught for two years while doing an accelerated master’s program, so I didn’t have my teacher’s degree," said Christopher Ramsey, a teacher in Phoenix.
"You have to have some experience. It’s going to allow people to do on the job training, and that’s where it’s scary," said Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Educators Association.
Here's what Senior Education Policy Advisor to the Governor Kaitlin Harrier said in a statement about the new legislation:
Signing this bill into law furthers Governor Ducey’s pro-education policies by giving schools the flexibility to establish their own locally designed school leadership preparation programs and will allow those without a bachelor’s degree to start training to become a teacher while also completing their degree. This flexibility will help strengthen the teacher talent pipeline, provide the opportunity for more Arizonans to become teachers, and allow for locally driven solutions.