By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey officials want to increase the grade point average requirement and implement basic skills exams for aspiring teachers as part of a series of initiatives to improve the quality of K-12 instruction.

At a state board of education meeting this week, Assistant New Jersey Education Commissioner Peter Shulman presented a proposal to increase the required GPA for enrolling in and graduating from college teaching programs to 3.0, up from 2.5 and 2.75 respectively, Philly.com reports.

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About half of New Jersey’s teacher training programs already use the 3.0 standard. State education officials have twice tried and failed to increase the standard for all schools. Shulman’s proposal wouldn’t apply to prospective teachers currently in school, and would provide exceptions for certain candidates with other high qualifications, the news site reports.

“Shulman gave familiar arguments for wanting to increase the thresholds, citing various studies showing that a small minority of teachers nationwide come from the upper academic tiers in college,” according to Philly.com. “He said New Jersey’s current requirements are less stringent than those in some neighboring states, prompting teachers to come here to take advantage of the lower standards.”

Surprisingly, teachers unions haven’t totally dismissed the idea. The American Federation of Teachers is actually among the supporters of the higher standards.

It’s hard to imagine why anyone would oppose increasing the standards of the teaching profession, especially considering the dismal academic status of many public schools, in New Jersey and across the nation.

But state board of education members did have some concerns, primarily with how the GPA requirement might hinder the ability to judge a teacher’s “potential.”

“People come into the teaching profession for a number of reasons,” said Ronald Butcher, an administrator in Rowan University’s education program, according to Philly.com. “If you want to attract high performers into the system, you want to look at a whole package of things and reduce the negatives that keep them out.”

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A lot of people have “potential” to be great at a lot of things, but those who succeed tend to be the type who do what they have to do to succeed. That generally includes demonstrating their abilities by earning solid grades in the classroom.

We agree there should be some flexibility if college professors or education deans believe a particular candidate has what it takes, but academic achievement should be the primary and overriding factor.

Shulman’s presentation was the first step in the regulatory process, and the GPA proposal is part of a broader package that would add a new basic skills exam for those hoping to enroll in a college education program and to gain state certification, Philly.com reports.