School Choice Clip of the Day: Arizona embraces “alternative teacher certification”
Recently, Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing had the privilege to do a short “Story of the Day” video for School Choice Media.
While New Mexico’s Legislature has utterly failed to act on school choice in recent years, Arizona’s Legislature recently enacted “alternative teacher certification.” As noted in the debate, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (of Arizona), the now retired justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was not considered qualified to teach civics in high school under Arizona law. The same remains true for retired scientists at the National Labs who might want to teach physics in New Mexico schools.
New Mexico’s Legislature attempted some reform when Republicans controlled the Legislature, but the unions fought it and ultimately killed it in the Senate. This is yet another way in which New Mexico is falling behind its neighbors. Watch the minute-long clip below: