Decision on temporary teaching licenses delayed

The board which licenses Iowa teachers today tabled a controversial plan to create temporary licenses. The Board of Educational Examiners considered licensing select college grads without a teaching degree on a temporary basis to help ease the statewide shortage of substitute teachers. But after discussing how strict to make the requirements for “non-certified” substitutes, the board decided to table the proposal until its meeting next month. At that February meeting, the board will review a revised proposal with changes that came out of their discussion. The board also took the “emergency status” off the proposal which means the process to get any change approved could take months instead of weeks. The state’s largest teachers union is against the plan, saying the state should use only certified substitutes.