By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – When former New York City schools Chancellor Joel Klein and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten agree on anything, it’s worth close examination.

Klein, a prominent education reform advocate, and Weingarten, head of the national union representing teachers in some of America’s worst schools, typically have different perspectives on the best ways to improve teaching and student learning in public schools.

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But both seem to agree on one way to elevate the profession that could dramatically increase the quality of teachers: Implement a rigorous bar exam similar to the test attorneys must pass before they are allowed to practice law, the Atlantic reports.

Weingarten apparently floated the idea at the Aspen Ideas Festival this summer, and Klein echoed the proposal at the Washington Ideas Forum this week as a way to professionalize teaching.

Jordan Weissmann, a writer for the Atlantic, spoke with Klein at the Forum and wrote about the conversation.

“What precisely did he mean by ‘professionalizing’ teaching, I asked? He responded that it could involve a wide variety of changes, many of which had been proposed by legendary AFT president Albert Shanker in the 1980s. And one could be the implementation of ‘a very rigorous national test, like the bar exam.’

“’We really need to insist on the best and the brightest going into teaching,’ he added.”

We certainly agree. A rigorous bar exam for teachers would undoubtedly weed out weaker teaching candidates and raise the quality of educators leading the next generation.

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It would be a big first step away from the current trade union format that treats all educators like equals.

But Weissmann raises an important issue. The incentive of a high-paying career would be necessary to attract top recruits willing to hang their hopes on the high-stakes test.

“Whether or not you’re a fan of professional credentialing – and there are many out there who aren’t – there’s one very obvious problem I can foresee: There’s no way this idea would work unless teacher salaries were raised first, and possibly dramatically.”

We believe that’s a logistical issue that could possibly be overcome, at least in the beginning, by making the exam optional for the first few years, and allowing those who take and pass it to start at mid-career pay levels.