Last week, the Florida House passed HB 1285, which included allowing a “classical education teaching certificate.” The certificates will be awarded solely on the request of the classical school – of which there are 18 in nine Florida counties.
- The measure requires the state Board of Education “to allow for the issuance of a classical education teaching certificate, upon the request of a classical school, to any applicant who fulfills the requirements” of a part of state law dealing with eligibility criteria for certificates
What this matters: The bill exempts applicants for a classical education certificate from meeting requirements that they “demonstrate mastery of general knowledge,” “demonstrate mastery of subject area knowledge,” or demonstrate “mastery of professional preparation and education competence.”
- Former House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s wife, Anne, founded Classical Preparatory School. Richard, the president of New College of Florida, has pledged to stir the school toward classical education.
How it played out:
During floor debate Thursday, Rep. Robin Bartleman, a Weston Democrat who is a former educator, challenged the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland.
“It looks like, when I read the language of this bill, that certification would be granted solely at the request of the school and does not require any particular demonstration of subject area expertise, professional knowledge or even general knowledge,” Bartleman said. “Is that true?”
Canady replied, “(The bill) gives the Board of Education the opportunity to create a pathway that provides the right kind of certification requirements for classical school teachers, which are going to be a little different because of the unique nature of the curriculum.”
- The proposed teaching certificates would only be valid at a classical school.
Dig Deeper: What is a classical school?
The bill says that a classical school “implements a classical education school model that emphasizes the development of students in the principles of moral character and civic virtue through a well-rounded education in the liberal arts and sciences that is based on the classical trivium stages of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.”
A House analysis of the bill that described a classical education curriculum cited part of an article from The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think-tank:
“In Florida, some charter schools are implementing a curriculum known as classical education which is centered on ‘the pursuit of wisdom and virtue by means of a rich and ordered course of study grounded in the liberal arts tradition.’”
-source: The News Service of Florida
