16,
■rsday • November 16, 1995
Page 5 • The Batialign
Ichools may be learning lesson
anTom special teaching permits
it
people granted such
ermits do not have to go
ilough the regular state
dcher certification
rlcess.
PBuSTIN (AP) — Nearly one-
iurth of special teaching per-
dls intended to bring out-
;arding people to the class-
)o|m have been awarded to
eo de whose college or work
ac ground in their teaching
rep is limited or nonexistent,
;ate records show.
■’hose people received 29 of
ie| 129 special permits granted
ruler a new program, according
> Texas Education Agency doc-
mpnts obtained by The Associ-
Press.
i The program allows school
isiricts to license teachers for
art icular subjects if state edu-
atjon officials approve,
people with such permits
on’i have to go through the reg-
lar state teacher certification
jj^^Bcess, and a teachers' group
ays that opens a back door into
he profession.
rstt:: jpducation Commissioner
sa tlike Moses, who has final say
to: ill such permits, has denied 86,
t w icc< rding to TEA staff. About 50
am, )thers are pending,
ge rjffhe program, part of a 1995
education law designed to in-
! ea crease local control over educa-
h < tier, was billed as a way to get
i 1 n uniquely qualified people into
o! the classroom — such as a doctor
teaching a health class,
^^ccording to 209 applications
)btained by the AP under the
3pen Records Act. many per-
nit -i seem to be good examples
of that intent.
Among them: a language pro
gram utilizing teachers of Japan
ese, Russian and Mandarin Chi
nese who were educated in
Tokyo, Kiev and Taiwan; a choir
teacher who has performed at
venues as diverse as Carnegie
Hall and Fiesta Texas; and law
officers teaching criminal justice.
But a number of others lack
such credentials.
Permits were issued to 14
people who either had no speci
fied work experience in the area
they teach or whose work back
ground had limitations noted by
TEA staff.
“Not qualified technically,
but all they got,” said a notation
about one person licensed to
teach manufacturing graphics.
An algebra teacher’s application
said “experience does not justi
fy” a permit.
Academic limitations also
were found.
Four had no college classes in
at least one area they are teach
ing. A third-grade teacher had
no elementary education
coursework. On five others, offi
cials found applicants weak in
academics.
Five more people got permits
despite problems in both acade
mics and work experience.
School districts, which may
assign mentors to work with
such new teachers, often includ
ed compensating factors in per
mit requests.
Among them: an outstanding
academic record despite no
work experience; classroom ef
fectiveness; being a good role
model; or a lack of certified
teacher applicants.
Moses conceded that the deci
sions might appear arbitrary.
But he said he and agency
staff work hard to “make the
most balanced decisions we can.”
“I’m sure some could second-
guess us,” Moses said. “I would
not make any pronouncements
that there’s an absolute science
to this. It’s plowing new ground.”
In some cases, Moses said, su
perintendents provided more in
formation about a prospective
teacher’s background or about
difficulties a school district had
in hiring someone.
Most of the 209 permit re
quests came from smaller
school districts, which Moses
said may have a harder time
attracting teachers than those
in large urban areas.
“I think there are small school
districts that are struggling to get
qualified and talented people in
their classrooms. It’s not a real
big surprise that the rural school
districts would be the ones mak
ing a lot of the requests” for spe
cial permits, Moses said.
“We would probably try to err
on the side of the school district.
Quite frankly, it’s their request.
It’s one they’re going to have to
live with.”
Senate Education Committee
Chairman Bill Ratliff, R-Mount
Pleasant, an author of the law,
said that’s proper.
“I think he ought to give a lot
of weight to the local needs and
their decision on how to meet
the needs,” Ratliff said. “That’s
not to say he ought to allow
them just to hire anybody. I
don’t think there’s any indica
tion he plans to do that.”
Ratliff noted that people with
special permits that might be
questioned make up a tiny per
centage of the state’s more than
220,000 teachers.
Architects meeting to
design Northgate area
The Brazos Chapter of the Ameri
can Institute of Architects is conduct
ing a two-day design meeting for a
portion of the historic Northgate dis
trict of College Station.
The chapter will work with the city
of College Station and Texas A&M ar
chitectural faculty members and stu
dents to establish an architectural fu
ture plan for the Northgate area.
Final results of the planning session
will be presented Friday at 2 p.m.
Nobel Peace Prize
winner Borlaug to speak
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, winner of
the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, will dis
cuss the his involvement with the
"green revolution" that led to a boon
in India's food grain exports.
The speech at 7 p.m. in 504 Rud
der Tower is sponsored by the India
Association.
Clayton to discuss
arguments on religion
The Texas A&M Department of Phi
losophy and Humanities will present a
colloquium at 3:45 p.m. today in 506A
Blocker Building.
Dr. John Clayton, religious studies
at Lancaster University, will speak on
"The Ends of Argument in Religious
Traditions." Admission is free.
Sociological research
opportunities outlined
The Texas A&M Department of So
ciology will present a colloquium to
day at noon in 326 Academic Building.
Richard Udry, a sociology profes
sor at the University of North Caroli-
na-Chapel Hill, will speak on the
"National Longitudinal Study of Ado
lescent Health: Surprising Opportuni
ties for Sociological Research." Ad
mission is free.
sraelis elect Peres as premier to replace Rabin
^eei
The new Prime Minister must
elect Cabinet members swiftly
nd plans to keep Israeli peace.
■ TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Uniting to
■ove that ballots, not bullets, must deter-
M tne the government of Israel, lawmakers
(proas the political spectrum backed Shi-
ion Peres as premier on Wednesday.
President Ezer Weizman gave the Labor
farty leader 21 days to form a new Cabi
net after parties representing 111 out of
the 120 Knesset members — including
most of the right-wing opposition — recom
mended him.
Many Israelis are deeply repentant over
the poisonous political atmosphere that
cost Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin his life.
Peres accepted Wednesday’s offer “with a
heavy heart, in light of the circumstances."
“The death of a great prime minister, the
late Yitzhak Rabin, has left the nation shocked
and pained,” he said. “I will make every effort
to form a government that will broaden peace
with our neighbors and within us.”
Meanwhile, police arrested an eighth
student suspected of aiding Rabin's as
sassination, and charged two others for
attempting to desecrate the slain prime
minister’s grave.
Peres, 72, has been a fixture of Israeli
politics since the 1950s. He now plans to
surround himself with younger lieu
tenants and try to tap the surprising new
support from young people, who have
turned out by the hundreds of thousands
to mourn Rabin,
the
1 IL/lLzS
■intinued from Page 1
■
box be placed in a Southside
location, somewhere central
ly placed between Heldenfels
the Military Science
aiding.
On-line Transcript Bill:
j»e Senate requests the regis-
ir to offer an on-line tran-
ipt service free of charge,
jje transcripts could be used
unofficial purposes only
ice they would not be
imped with the A&M seal,
livacy of students’ transcripts
>uld be maintained.
Student Senate Seat Aho-
Ition Bill: The seats of the
■nate should be reallocated
(cause they do not reflect the
(rrent distribution of stu-
feats’ living areas and acade-
Bc colleges.
Cultures
Continued from Page 1
only practical way for cultures
courses to be implemented.
“We have different colleges,”
Waligura said. “We have dif
ferent needs. We need to have
different curriculums.”
Senate debate on an alter
nate cultures course bill, the
Degree Marketability Act, end
ed when the bill’s authors pro
posed withdrawing it from the
Senate floor, unsatisfied with
amendments that had been
made to it.
The Degree Marketability
Act called for implementation
of a three-hour U.S. cultures
requirement and a three-hour
international cultures require
ment, to be chosen from a
lengthy list of courses already
approved by the Faculty
Senate.
Chris Miller, an off-campus
senator and a sophomore Eng
lish major, was among sena
tors who were upset that the
bill was withdrawn.
“They have taken away a
choice from the student body,”
Miller said.
Other senators said the
Senate’s decision to accept the
authors’ motion to withdraw
their bill showed that the Sen
ate was not generally favor
able toward the bill anyway.
Jason Ross, a liberal arts
senator and a senior political
science major, said the with
drawal was “not too much dif
ferent than voting down
the bill.”
As the only remaining cul
tures course bill, failure of the
American and International
Cultures Proposal would have
left the Senate cultures bill
passed several years ago,
which called for a three-hour
U.S. cultures requirement,
in effect.
Tracey McAllister, an off-
campus senator and a senior
marketing major, said the Sen
ate should pass the American
and International Cultures
Proposal so that a semester’s
worth of work and debate
would not be wasted.
“If this fails, we will walk
out of this chamber having
done nothing,” McAllister said.
“It’s time for this to be over.”
But Chris Halvorsen, Sen
ate external affairs chair and a
senior accounting major, said
the Senate should postpone ac
tion on the bill, allowing it to
go to a student referendum,
“allowing 5,000 students to de
cide instead of 60.”
“Are we listening to the
people who say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’
the loudest, or are we listening
to the largest number of peo
ple?” Halvorsen asked.
All of the Senate officers
voted against the American
and International Cultures
Proposal.
PNO
Parents Night Out
free babysitting for sfudenfs, faculfy and
staff of Texas A&M
Friday, November 17, 1995
6:30- 10:00 p.m.
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for more information call 862-2525
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A&M U!
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by appointment
Dr. Shandley, 845-1752, rm. 230-D Academic Bldg.
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notification 3 working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our ability.
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All films are presented in the Rudder Theater Complex
e-mail: films.nov®m8c.tamu.edu.