Nashville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) – Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton is proposing changes to teacher education requirements that would allow educators with associate degrees or in a junior college program to teach K-5 students to help fill the 2,000 teacher job openings in the state.
Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton says he doesn’t see a problem with allowing teachers with a two-year degree to work in elementary classrooms.
J C Bowman, executive director with Professional Educators of Tennessee, disagrees with Sexton and says teacher education requirements are not the primary reason people avoid teaching careers in Tennessee. He says the number one thing that people talk about is the workload and student discipline and says until those two issues are addressed, the speaker’s issue is about 10th down the list.
Governor Bill Lee signed the Teacher Paycheck Protection Act, raising the minimum teacher salary to $50,000 starting next year. When asked if teachers with associate or junior college degrees would receive this salary, Sexton says the details remain under discussion.
