Tanghe and Nagel Speak at Minnesota State Capitol

On Thursday March 2, 2017,Shannon Tanghe, Program Director of the M.A. in ESL, and Judy Nagel, Program Director of the M.A. in Special Education, went to the Minnesota State Capitol, speaking with the Senate K-12 Education Policy Committee. They testified in regard to Senate File 04 Tier 1, a model which increases the ability for an individual to teach without any teacher preparation. Specifically, this legislation would allow an individual to become a fully licensed teacher only by passing the state teacher licensure exams.  Additionally, a district may elect to keep an untrained individual in a classroom on an unlimited basis, without a bachelor’s degree, unless teaching a core content subject.  After the testimony, the committee discussed the file and voted to continue to move the bill forward to the next phase of review.  Stay tuned for further developments affecting Minnesota teacher preparation programs.