Florida is asking military veterans without teacher training to enter classrooms as teachers in the face of teacher shortages.
The teacher shortage in Florida and the country has reached worrying levels and officials are taking steps to ensure that as students return to the classroom, someone is there to educate them.
Karla Hernández Matz, president of United Teachers of Dade, explains that “if we want more qualified teachers, they have to create a better work environment and pay teachers better. It will always be difficult for Governor DeSantis to find more teachers when our salary is one of the worst in the country.
Governor Ron DeSantis returned to support the law that took effect in Florida on July 1, which offers teaching jobs to military veterans without teaching training.
“If you have already completed 4 years of active military service and have at least 60 college credits with a grade point average of at least 2.5 on the tests that must be passed, you can obtain temporary certification and contribute,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Adelina Leon, an expert teacher in education, warns that “it is not that they are going to bring any veteran to put him in a classroom. They are going to have a training time, they are going to have to pass the teacher certifications. They are going to have a temporary five-year opportunity in the classroom.
Parents assure that it can be a good solution as long as the candidates are well evaluated.
Alberto Avellan is a family man who “doesn’t think it’s a bad idea, as long as he takes into account the psychological situation of war veterans.”
Others are more skeptical, saying that unqualified people should not be put in classrooms.
“We harm our children by putting someone in a classroom who is not trained or prepared to teach our children,” said Karla Hernández Matz, president of United Teachers of Dade.
The lack of teachers is a crisis at the national level, there are states that are putting university students to teach in schools.