Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign a bill that will allow Teach for America — a program one Ohio University dean opposes — to come to Ohio.
House Bill 21 permits the state’s Board of Education to issue resident educator licenses to participants of Teach for America, a non-profit organization that trains recent college graduates to teach for two years in low-income schools throughout the country. Those who are selected are not required to have a degree in education.
The Ohio House of Representatives passed a concurrent version of the bill yesterday before forwarding it to Kasich.
Renée Middleton, dean of OU’s Patton College of Education and Human Services, voiced opposition to the bill in front of the Ohio House in February.
“We do not see having five weeks of training as being the necessary and appropriate requirements for entering into the classroom,” she said in an interview earlier this month.
Kasich, who vowed to bring Teach for America to Ohio during his March State of the State address, praised the bill.
“The best college students in the country are recruited to teach in the poorest school districts, and Teach for America has proven itself to be a very effective program,” Kasich said in a statement. “I am thrilled Ohio will now have the opportunity to bring these energetic and passionate teachers into our classrooms.”
Those selected to participate go through a five-to-six week training program to prepare them to teach. Last year, Teach for America placed 4,500 students out of the 46,000 who applied, according to a previous Postarticle. The program requires applicants have a minimum GPA of 2.5, but the average GPA of participants is 3.6.
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