Can a person teach in a private school without a degree?

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Can a person with just an associates degree or just a high school diploma teach legally in a private school? I was just told by someone who works in a religious school that this is the case there.

How can that be?
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I have heard of them stretching the rules a little, but not that much.

I use to sub at a Catholic School. I was offered a full time job. But, I have two degrees, but no teaching degree. I was told if I took the job, I would have one year (with some slight leeway) to take a few courses and apply for certification via testing. I have heard of this type of thing before....if you have a degree already, you are given time to get a teaching certificate.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
It depends on how the school is accredited, or if it is, and it depends on the state's education laws.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
a person with just an associates degree or just a high school diploma teach legally in a private school?
What is the case is that candidates for teaching positions in private schools do not need to be certified, do not need a degree in education, and that there is leeway to use qualifying real world experience. However, I would think that the typical entry level qualification would be a bachelors degree and I would react with surprise, too, to the idea that somebody could be hired as a teacher without a college degree. But perhaps in courses like shop or typing there could be leeway. Maybe.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
I taught adult school in private, post-secondary accredited school, and a college degree was not necessary to obtain a Vocational Ed credential in California. They counted years of work experience in the field. Because I had a degree and a multiple subject teaching credential, I got an Adult Ed credential, which included Retail Sales and Employment Prep because I had ten years of retail management experience. The Construction instructor had only a high school diploma, but he had over 25 years in construction, so he got a Voc Ed credential.

For private elementary/high schools, a degree and/or credential may not be required. Home schooling is a whole different ballgame, and again, it depends on the accreditation of the program a parent is following.
 

Elsi

Well-Known Member
I think this varies widely by state. In my state, charter schools have a lot more leeway than public schools, and rules have been relaxed a lot over the last decade. There are some wonderful, well-intentioned and well-run charters. And then there are a TON of for-profits run by large management companies that don’t give a damn about the kids they are serving. They put out nice marketing materials , talk a good game and have a few shiny bells and whistles to attract parents, but scratch the surface and you’ll find underpaid and undercredentialled teachers that may be making as little as $22,000 a year. Some are part time and paid hourly $12 - $20 an hour depending on experience. More like daycare teachers than actual teachers. My understanding is that they have to have a minimum percentage (not sure what that percentage is - maybe 80?) of their teachers licensed but the rest can be unlicensed and are considered ‘supervised’ by the licensed teachers.

It’s actually been a huge political scandal in my state with the heads of these for-profit companies giving huge donations to politicians who have gone on to relax the rules. And then they go on to take state per pupil money away from the schools, draining the public school budget.

These are not the same as well-run private schools or catholic schools that charge tuition and have a mostly middle to upper class target market. These charters are popping up in abandoned strip malls in run down neighborhoods and advertising to local parents as a better, safer option for their kids. And SOME of them are.

But I’ve done some digging into this world and come to believe 8 out of 10 here, at least, are for-profit scams draining money from the state budget with little return to the students or communities they are supposed to serve. The executive of one of these large charter companies is now in politics here himself, after amassing hundreds of millions of dollars while paying teachers an average salary of $28k at his schools.

A friend taught at one of these schools and the priority was not teaching - it was inflating daily average enrollment numbers to max money from the state. They were encouraged to mark students present even if they didn’t show up for this reason.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
In Wisconsin anyone can homeschool and never check in with anyone. I know a few homeschooled kids whose parents were not teachers who are now in college. One is majoring in Chemistry. This is her first time in a school. I worked with her at Applebee's. Smart kid. Normal social life. Boyfriend.

I am one who always felt college degrees can be overrated.
 

Elsi

Well-Known Member
In Wisconsin anyone can homeschool and never check in with anyone. I know a few homeschooled kids whose parents were not teachers who are now in college. One is majoring in Chemistry. This is her first time in a school. I worked with her at Applebee's. Smart kid. Normal social life. Boyfriend.

I am one who always felt college degrees can be overrated.

Yes, homeschooling is an entirely different issue. Many homeschooled children do well and have wonderful, if sometimes inconsistent, educations. But from what I've seen they are often creative thinkers who bring another perspective to problem solving. I'm not anti-homeschooling at all.

But I am extremely frustrated, in my state at least, that charter schools are not held to the same standard as public schools for teacher credentialing. I agree college is often overrated (I'm largely self-taught and finished my degree AFTER the kids, at the urging of a wonderful boss, and I don't think it made a difference in my performance - only in my promotability). But I believe a professional teacher should have a degree and a credential. And that all kids deserve the same educationally quality, whether they go to public, private or charter school. In a school, I expect to see either a 4-year teaching degree or a 4-year (or more) degree in a subject area with a separate education credential. Teaching is HARD - you need to know your subject, and you need to know how to teach. E's husband has a 4-year degree in physics and a masters in science education, which involved 3 years of supervised student teaching experiences in addition to both education theory and additional science courses. I think he'll be a wonderful science teacher. He's teaching in a wonderful private (not charter) school now.
 
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