Fairy Tales
The ideal fairy tale plan is for an energetic young Oregonian college student to graduate with a license, get a teaching job, and within the first three years begin a Master’s degree concurrent with teaching. Most teaching contracts allow a financial benefit to assist with this. This Master’s would provide plenty of graduate coursework credits to convert the Initial I license, the Initial II and on to a more permanent license.
Oregon gives an Initial I license that is good for three years from graduation from an Ed program, plus the months to your next birthday. By then you must have sufficient graduate level credits to convert the license to an Initial II -- the next step before a permanent license is finally granted.
Those who graduated with a license but haven’t been hired will have to spend their own money on graduate tuition to convert their licenses within three years. They will have to find the money and time to do this during their days, nights, weekends or online. Will they do this if there are still no teaching jobs on the horizon?
I was aware of teacher licensure before I went to WOU, so I am not whining – too much. However, the licensure laws work against career changers like me, especially in a down economy.
I understand the upside of licensure laws. Medical Dietetics has licensure – I have a state license myself – and it has the double benefit of protecting public health and protecting the jobs of RD’s. The same is true in education, which is why WOU has their excellent post-bacc program to gain a license.
I came with a Master’s degree. I don’t need to get another one, but none of my prior credits or experience counts. I need new credits to convert my license, which must be graduate level, which is also higher tuition. This was one of my unanswered questions for TSPC – if I do a FACS practicum, is that considered graduate credit, and will it count? Most student teachers are undergrads.
Unless, of course, I do a Master’s program in FACS, which is impossible for me to enroll in due to my over-qualification problem.
When the teacher can’t get a job, then what? In Oregon I know of no dormancy or hiatus available for this licensure upgrade requirement. Wouldn't it be great if you could convert it within your first three years of teaching? But no – it’s within the first three years of having the license.
If the license lapses, you still have another 7 years (10 years from when it was first issued) to convert it before it completely expires. However, if the license isn't converted and isn't current, you can’t apply for teaching jobs. Perhaps you could apply, but it would come out that you weren't current and you couldn't be hired until you were. That could take awhile, which wouldn't work in the current climate of “only emergency hires” during a hiring freeze.
….Unless you are a laid-off Hewlett-Packard engineer, from what I heard. After a massive lay-off from HP in Corvallis, rumor had it they were offered “grandfathered” teaching licenses – just walk right in to teach Physics and Chemistry, or so I heard. Great idea! What about extending it to all experienced career-changing STEM educators? What about having the HP guys take a couple of education classes as part of the deal? Maybe it was, I don’t know. I never heard any more about that, and I have no idea if that was true, or if any of them are teaching in Oregon or not. I did some research and couldn't find any confirmation to the rumor I heard. So, maybe that’s a fairy tale.
There certainly was no parade of HP engineers seeking that 0.47 FTE Chemistry job I was offered.
Another fairy tale: Perhaps the initial license could have flexibility for conditions of unemployment, or previous Master’s degrees, or work experience, and other things that veer off the typical path to the classroom.
And yet another pipe dream: Perhaps teachers in high need STEM subjects could be “grandfathered” some seniority to protect them from being RIF’d when there is a massive lay-off concurrent with a STEM teacher shortage. It’s not just for the teacher’s benefit – it’s for the students’. Specifically, those 120 students.
The entire employment application (and it is lengthy and complex) is maintained online through a subscription service. Teaching jobs are posted to this service, and you apply through it. It’s efficient. There is an annual fee, of course. It’s the only way to find and apply for teaching jobs in many districts around here. Do I keep paying the fee?
So, do I spend the time and money to take the graduate coursework? It costs over $2,000 -- perhaps as much as $5K. This is for online or in-person classes – I can’t find an option that is cheaper. Of course, there are costlier ones. There is also the work load. Do I give up paying work for more graduate coursework?
With the local district facing another $30 million short-fall and more possible lay-offs by seniority, do I convert my license?
Do I pay for the privilege of hitting more brick walls?
There are other districts, but similar problems are happening in other large districts in our state. I can commute within a radius that makes sense, but I don't want to drive more than 100 miles/day. It’s a financial and professional high wire act.
Another option – a General Substitute’s License. A teacher can convert an Initial I license to a general sub license for $100. It’s good for 3 years. It is good in any school in the state.
I know people who sub full-time. It pays a day-rate maximum that is less than an entry-level teacher without a Masters, no benefits, before you subtract the days they don’t hire subs: Grading days, conference days, inservice days, furlough days, legal holidays, breaks and summer. It provides no financial assistance toward continuing education to convert a license. But it also requires no evening or weekend (unpaid) work.
However, a General Substitute License is not endorsed.
I would no longer be a Chemistry and Biology teacher. The nation needs science teachers – would I let it go?
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