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LAYTON -- A couple hundred people showed up at a session in Layton Wednesday night to find out how to become a teacher without going back to college. In a tight job market, this alternate route could be the right formula for some job seekers.
Teaching is not for everyone, but for many Utahns who are out of work or considering a career change, an alternate route to a teaching license sounds like an option.
"I'm laid off, so I'm just looking for work and I heard about it on the radio. I like kids and thought it sounded interesting," said job seeker Andrea Smith.
The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, or ABCTE, offers a teaching certificate program now approved in Utah for most subject areas. It has certified math teachers in Utah since 2004. Now it's seeing a surge in interest.
"Some of it is unemployment and layoffs and people looking for a more stable career, and some people have thought about teaching for years and didn't know there was a way they could do it without going back to school," said Bonnie Zuckerman, vice president of teacher recruitment for ABCTE.
Bill Forbes lost his job in December and hasn't had a single job interview. He said he's considered teaching in the past. "I hopefully planned on retiring and looking into it, so I'm going to be doing it sooner than I planned," he said.
The Utah Education Association supports a streamlined approach to licensure but not instant-teacher programs. "We're in favor of high standards for teachers, not in: ‘Let's let anyone in to experiment on a group of kids,'" said UEA President Kim Campbell.
The state's alternative route to licensure, or ARL, is spelled out online. You don't need the direction of ABCTE, this program takes eight to nine months of self-study on line and enrollment with the state ARL program.
ABCTE currently has 100 Utahns enrolled. "Only about 40 percent of people pass our exams. So, it's a very rigorous test and it's not necessarily a short cut to the classroom. It's just a different option," Zuckerman said.
This program has a couple more session in Utah. For more information, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
