Teacher Credentials at Private/Independents

[Anonymous]

So I am weighing all of my options, Private, Parochial, Charter, DCPS......One question that I have is that I know that under NCLB, public and charter schools have very strict credentialing for teachers. I am wondering for the $20-30,000 that all of the schools cost that I would have to pay for...what are the requirements for the teachers at these schools? Do the schools have minimum requirements for their teaching staff? Are they Masters level professionals? Are they required to pass any tests that demonstrates their core knowledge of subjects? Is it possible that you could pay $30,000 for your kid to go to school to find out that the teacher does not have a degree at all or maybe a degree in Leisure Studies but teaches Pre-K?

[Anonymous]

yup - as they do not need any certification...

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am a high school teacher who has taught for many years at both public and private schools. It is true that public school teachers require a certain level of mastery of the subject matter--when I first started teaching, to get my credential, I needed to pass subject tests for each of the three subjects in which I am now certified to teach. Private schools have no such legal requirement at all, and in theory, yes, it is possible that your child's teacher could have no training whatsoever in the subject. In practice, however, that would be unlikely if you are looking at a high quality school. At high quality schools, the teachers will pretty much always have, at a minimum, undergraduate degrees in their fields, and probably a master's as well, and sometimes even a PhD. (BTW, I am talking about high schools and basing my response on my experiences; I can't speak to elementary schools but I would imagine they would be similar.)

If it makes you feel better, my story is as follows: I am a Phi Beta Kappa, Summa graduate of one of the "public Ivies," with two Ivy master's degrees. I spent a number of years teaching in an elite public high school (the Whitman equivalent of the city in which we were then living), followed by five years teaching in an elite GDS/Sidwell equivalent of a different city that we then moved to. I would say that the teacher quality was the same in both the good public and elite private. Then we moved here a decade ago, and when I looked for work (I ended up in a private that gets discussed here, LOL--sorry, I can't give any recent gossip because I stopped teaching a few years ago when our kids were born ), I found that for the really good privates here, my education level was about standard--not below-average by any means, but not the most educated of my colleagues either, because I had some colleagues who had PhDs. Hope this helps; let me know if you have any other questions.

[Anonymous]

PP here--I wanted to add that if you are curious, most private schools on their websites have faculty lists that include degrees earned.

[Anonymous]

there is a big difference between "degrees earned" and proof of subject mastery..........

[Anonymous]

The unions in public school make it difficult to fire awful teachers with bad attitudes. The private schools will have them out of there in no time. That said, OP be very careful of the parochials or the cheaper privates, that's where you find the so so teachers.

[Anonymous]

Public schools do require you to pass teacher exams, be certified. But private schools have the luxury of hand picking their teachers, keeping the ones who excel, getting rid of the 'bad apples', instead of reassigning them. Obviously, despite the private school teacher's lack of ceritifcation, kids manage to excel in a private environment. I think it shows that there is more to a school's success than teachers, like offering smaller classes, individualized attention, small community where parents are involved, extra curricular activities, etc.

[Anonymous]

NO UNIONS!!!

[Anonymous]

Oooh - the question of certified vs. non-certified teachers. It's not an easy question. I'm an educator with almost 20 years experience and I do have state certification and a degree in education as well as a masters in my subject. In my numerous years of teaching in both public and private schools, I have worked with outstanding teachers who were not certified, and horrendous teachers who were. And vice-versa! Formal training will only get you so far - some people are natural teachers and some of the best I've seen were not certified. That said, entering a classroom with no training can prove disastrous as well. But, a lot is learned on the job - especially classroom management, which is essential to classroom success. Keep in mind that the teaching profession has over a 50% attrition rate in the first 3 years on the job. That is because classroom management is so difficult in the first few years. Once a teacher is "seasoned," handling a class of 30 is not as difficult.

There is a big difference between teaching in a private vs. a public school. Publics often have large classes filled with kids with different ability levels. I have had classes of 28 kids were their ability levels ranged from kids who were highly gifted to kids who were reading on a second grade level (this was a 9th grade class!!). I had to prepare them for a state exam that they had to pass to graduate that encompassed 1000 years of world history and geography. Needless to say - it was a tough year!! Privates usually (but not always) provide teachers with a better teaching environment: small class sizes, motivated and high-achieving students, not having to teach to standardized tests. But, public schools pay a lot more (typically 10 - 20K more per year) - which is not much when you're in the high income bracket families attending many privates - but a lot if you're supporting yourself on a salary of 40K per year. So I've seen excellent teachers turn down offers from private schools because of the pay levels. They simply couldn't afford to make the switch. Privates are attractive to teachers who have spouses who are the main breadwinners of the family. People are often shocked when they hear what private school teachers earn.

So, I don't know if this helps any but I wanted to put this in perspective. I would recommend sitting in on as many classes as possible to try to determine teacher quality.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I've never understood the low teacher salaries at private schools
Or why a truly gifted teacher would stay in a private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never understood the low teacher salaries at private schools
Or why a truly gifted teacher would stay in a private school

Private schools can pay lower salaries because private schools have much better working conditions--fewer classes, fewer students, more autonomy, better-behaved students, etc. Many teachers prefer to teach in private schools despite the lower salaries because of these better conditions.

[Anonymous]

If I had a husband who earned a decent salary, I would teach in a private school in a minute. I have taught in the public schools and frankly, there is a lot lacking (I've even taught in a decent one). They are VERY narrowly focused on math and reading. Everything else doesn't really matter too much. A child's social or emotional needs? What a joke! Sometimes you have parents that support you but usually the parents think you are the enemy (how dare you assign homework; my son has soccer) or parents that don't seem to exist at all. I am certified to teach and have taught in both types of schools and the better private schools usually have teachers who are certified. Just b/c you are in a public school, don't assume the teachers are certified to teach what they are teaching. Most are but in the yrs where there are teaching shortages, they just need to fill the spot.

[Anonymous]

The best part of private school is that the teachers are given flexibility and freedom to be creative. They don't have to teach to the test, and they don't have to be constantly worried about keeping up on their credentials. The school is able to hire people who are fun, who love kids and who are flexible, versus having to hire so strictly from just people who are qualified by the state.

[Anonymous]

Private schools are often able to supplement base salaries with other opportunities such as assistant coaching positions, summer study stipends, summer classes, etc. It still may not make them on par with public school compensation, but it helps.

[Anonymous]

And some private schools have significant perks, like tuition breaks for teachers' kids, residences, tuition reimbursement, etc.