Getting certified as teacher a complicated business

Teachers can get a “Professional Certificate,” valid for five years, when they pass all their certification exams, or a “Temporary Certificate,” good for three years, if they are in the process of passing their licensing tests and already have a teaching job.

Sentinel reporter Lois Solomon will find the answer. Submit your question at SunSentinel.com/ AskLois.

“I’ve spoken to a half dozen teacherswhojust graduated fromcollege and can’t pass the standard test given by the state of Florida for teachers’ certification (50% failure rate). IfGov. DeSantiswantsmore teachers, why is the test so hard?”—

I didn’t realize getting certified as a Florida teacherwas such a complicated business until I started looking into this question. Teachers can get a “Professional Certificate,” valid for five years, when they pass all their certification exams, or a “Temporary Certificate,” good for three years, if they are in the process of passing their licensing tests and already have a teaching job.

To become fully certified, teachers have to pass Florida’sGeneral KnowledgeExam, which has three parts. This test was intentionally made more difficult in 2015 to align with harder standardized tests being given to students. The state may have made the examsTOOhard: Teachers’ scores dropped by as much as 30%.

Last year, seeing that only about half of prospective teacherswere passing, the state realized something had to be done, andDeSantis signed a bill to make the process a little easier. Temporary teachers used to have one year to pass the General Knowledge test, nowthey have three. In addition, fees to take or retake parts of the testwere reduced from$150 to $32.50.

“Overall, the state hasmade some effort to ease the path to the classroom, but there is no doubt more needs to be done to bring new teachers into the profession,” said Joni Branch, spokeswoman for the Florida Education Association. “Florida has a severe teacher shortage.”

This is a tough one. We desperately need more teachers, but shouldwe make their licensing exams easier just sowe can have more of them?

Why are teachers denied accommodations?

“Teachers’ requests for accommodations due to risk of

COVID-19 are being denied regularly, despite the individual’s need to remain athome andwork virtually, for legitimate medical reasons. The applicationswere ’triaged’ and assigned a level: 1 through

4. Staff are getting emails explaining that theywere denied because their ’level’ had reached its quota. Howcan this be legal?”— ABroward teacher

COVID-19 has placed school systems in a strained relationship with many of their teachers: The districts desperately need these instructors but can’t accommodate all their requests towork fromhome as more and more kids come back to classrooms.

In Broward, the school district received requests fromabout

5,000 teachers— a third of the work force— for accommodations towork remotely, and about

800 have been approved.

The district gave priority to teachers who have health conditions that put them at high risk for serious illness or death should they get infected with

COVID-19, such as cancer, heart disease, kidney disease andType

2 diabetes. These conditions are the highest priority level mentioned by the teacher above.

About 1,000 teachers who have at-risk family members have been denied (“Priority 3”), as are mostwho have health conditions deemed “Priority 2,” such as asthma, HIV and high blood pressure. Priority 4 staffers fit into none of these categories.

SuperintendentRobertRuncie told the school board recently there’s noway a school district could function if it granted all requests. Still, the Broward TeachersUnion says teachers are being unfairly denied petitions to work fromhome.

“The district is issuing denials of remotework assignment in an arbitrary manner that violates the provisions outlined in the Memorandum ofUnderstanding between Broward schools and the BrowardTeachersUnion,” union president Anna Fusco told me. “Thememorandum requires a district panel to review applications, assign priorities thereto, and assess the needs of each individualwork site to determine howmany employees can be granted remotework while still maintaining operations of the work site.”

“BTU isworking with the district to correct its implementation so that the maximum number of employees can be approved towork remotely at eachwork site, as contemplated by the parties’ agreement.”

I asked Fort Lauderdale employment lawyerDonna Ballman about the legality of the denials. Here’s what she said: “I’m not seeing anything (in the memorandum) that discusses quotas, so it’s problematic that they may be limiting the numbers of accommodations. It’s also concerning that disabilities unrelated toCOVID risk are bottom priority. There could be other disabilities requiring remotework that are being given short shrift. Each case should be considered separately on its merits and the accommodation should be granted if there is no undue hardship.”

Stay tuned. It sounds like many teachers whose requestswere rejected are going to pursue this as coronavirus continues its relentless spread.

Are universities closing after Thanksgiving?

“Is theUniversity of Florida shutting downits campus after Thanksgiving? I’m not surewhether to sendmy son back to his apartment if all his classes and examsare going to be online and Gainesville becomes a ghost town.”— Beth, BocaRaton

TheUniversity of Florida campus inGainesville will remain open, but it sounds like it will be pretty quiet.

According to the university’s website: “Faculty are encouraged to shift their classes to an online format after the holiday to give students the option to stay home if they so choose. Most courses will not have a face-to-face requirement after Thanksgiving, but somewill.”

Like many colleges and universities across the country, UFis trying tominimize the backand-forth between home and school that could spread coronavirus among communities.

It’s the same at Florida State, the University of South Florida and theUniversity of Central Florida: None are offering in-person classes after Thanksgiving, with a couple of exceptions for labs and other science requirements.

Not thatmany classeswere in-person anyway. Only 35% ofUFclasses are face-to-face this semester. At theUniversity of Central Florida, only 25% of classes are in-person.

It will be interesting to see what the kids come back to in January. The state is pushing formore in-person classes, but faculty members are resisting. Options for remote learning

“If the state decides to take away our virtual option in January here inBroward County, andwe do not feel it is safe for our family to send our straight-Astudent (3rd grader) back to a brick and mortar classroom, then what are our options? FLVS full time programis not an option in the middle of the school year, and I believe their part time programdoes not have FSAtesting. Therefore, if choosingFLVS in the middle of the year, does thatmeanthat my 3rd graderwould have to re-complete third grade?”— Lisa Jabick, Plantation

“I ama parent of twoMiamiDade County public school students (high school and middle). They are both at homecurrently online with their teachers. Somestudents have returned to the physical building, but I do not plan on sending them back until it is

100% safe or if a real vaccine

forCOVID-19 is fully tested and is safe. When the district or state goes to Phase 3, will the district, school, or state forcemy children to return or will online still be an option? Cases in Florida are rising again and I do not feel safe.”— PedroDe Pacas, Hialeah

Parents across the state, and especially in South Florida with our high coronavirus rates, are anxiouslywaiting to hear if Gov. RonDeSantis will renew the order that allowed online education through Jan. 8.

It’s especially nerve-wracking because several programs, including Palm Beach, MiamiDade and Broward’s virtual schools, are already full, although Broward does have roomfor high school students.

Theremay be roomat FloridaVirtual School, the statewide online program; administrators haven’t decided yetwhether to take new fulltime elementary students next semester, spokeswomanTaniaClowsaidMonday.

FLVS has a fulltime, fiveday-a-week, programthat runs like a typical school day, and there’s also FLVS Flex for single courses or as a supplement to home schooling or other schooling. Speak to your principal about keeping up with standardized testing if you enroll in FLVS Flex. According to Clow: “Home school and private school students enrolled in FLVS Flex are not required to take state mandated tests, however, if they plan on transferring back to public school it is recommended that they take the grade-appropriate FSA exams.”

Go to flvs.net for more information.

Other options include virtual charter schools and old-fashioned home schooling, where the parent guides the lessons. Here are somewebsites for more information on home schooling: K12.com, ConnectionsAcademy. com, Time4Learning.comand curriculummatch.com.

DeSantis could make an announcement about next semester any day now.

So much hinges on this announcement; I hope it comes soon so families can start making decisions.