NEA Urged to Back Tests for New Teachers

The president of the nation’s biggest teachers’ union urged delegates to her group’s convention Sunday to support certification tests for new teachers, similar to bar exams for lawyers.

Mary Hatwood Futrell, president of the 1.7-million-member National Education Assn., also proposed that the union create a war chest of $1.7 million to combat illiteracy and the nation’s 25% high school dropout rate.

Futrell and other teacher union leaders have argued that tough certification examinations, coupled with rigorous training and internship programs, would help raise the esteem as well as salaries of teachers.

“Now is the time to make sure America knows where we stand,” Futrell told the 7,500 NEA delegates to the group’s 123rd convention. “We stand for fairness in testing; we stand for quality in the classroom.”

Follows Earlier AFT Action

Futrell’s call for NEA endorsement of a teacher certification examination comes five months after the union’s smaller rival, the American Federation of Teachers, proposed a national exam for all prospective classroom educators.

Last week, Futrell predicted that the NEA delegates would overwhelmingly vote in favor of putting the union on record in support of the certification tests for new teachers. A vote is expected later this week.

In her speech, Futrell told the delegates: “This week, let us tell America that tomorrow’s teachers--each and every one--must successfully complete an academically rigorous teacher preparation program.

“And let us tell America that just as now law graduates can’t practice law without passing the bar exam, no teaching graduate should be allowed to instruct America’s children without first passing a valid exam that tests mastery of subject matter and professional skills.”

The union opposed teacher certification tests in the 1960s and 1970s as being racially biased.