Students in Grand Valley State University’s College of Education could have an easier time becoming teachers with new bills being discussed in Michigan’s legislature.

House Bills 5393, 4645, 5013 and 5241 are some of the amendments being discussed by the Committee of Education in the legislature. These bills would amend “the revised school code,” a 1976 law that lays out general guidelines for Michigan elementary and secondary schools.

HB 5393, introduced by State Rep. Margaret O’Brien (R-Portage), would require each public school district to have 30 hours of teacher professional development each year.

State Rep. Bob Genetski (R-Saugatuck) helped introduce two house bills. HB 5241 would allow undergraduate students to major in accounting or writing when studying to become a teacher. Currently, students who wish to study and specialize in accounting must major in math and students who want to specialize in writing must major in English. Other “teachable majors” available within the COE include integrated science language, arts, mathematics and social studies for elementary teachers and biology, chemistry, earth/space science, French, German. history, Latin, music, physical education, physics, social studies, Spanish and visual arts for secondary teachers.

Lindsay Vogelsberg, legislative aide to Genetski, said HB 4645 would eliminate the 18 credits students need in order to receive their Professional Teaching Certificate. Students would only need their original teaching certificate to teach in Michigan.

“…Studies have been mixed at best as to whether the continuing education really improves teacher effectiveness in the classroom,” Vogelsberg said.

Chelsea Bashore, a senior in the COE studying elementary education, said she believes continuing education is important for teachers, though.

“Education is ever-changing,” Bashore said, adding that teachers have to try different things in the classroom to see what works. “…The world around us is always changing, from technology, to new ideas, books, so there is always going to be more to learn to share with and improve your classroom.”

According to GVSU’s Office of Institutional Analysis, 873 undergraduate students and 2,603 graduate students are enrolled in the COE.

State Rep. Jim Stamas (R-Midland) introduced HB 5013, which also aims to eliminate the need for teachers to continue their education after receiving an undergraduate degree.

An aide for Rep. Stamas said the representative strongly encourages continuing education but believes the classes teachers have to take when continuing their education do not always correlate with what they are teaching.

Vogelsberg said eliminating continuing education for teachers would also help students who are in debt from student loans.

An article published in The Michigan Education Report, “Michigan’s meaningless teacher certification reform,” argued that costly continuing education requirements stand between a teacher’s desire and ability to teach.

Bashore said she knows students who have had a hard time finding teaching jobs after graduation.

“I think a lot of it has to do with your personal preferences and doing what you have to do to have a job,” she said.

For more information about the COE or its requirements, visit www.gvsu.edu/coe.

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