Mark Twain said that all you need to make a good school is a teacher sitting on one end of a log and a student on the other. If education bureaucrats have any say in the matter they would also say that the log must be the correct length and diameter. They would also want framed proof of licensure hanging in a nearby tree to show the log’s legitimacy and the teacher sitting on the log would need to be “certified” by the state. The teacher would be required to have graduated from a state accredited university with a major in education. Then the state would give a license to that person which would give them permission to teach only the subjects in which they have a license.
If Albert Einstein wanted to teach Physics in the public high school, the state would deny him the job because he has not taken the prescribed courses in their accredited college, even if he knows more about physics than anyone else in the world. Doesn’t matter. He’s not certified to teach. James Madison never took a course in political science. Karl Marx never formally studied economics or political science. He had a doctorate in philosophy. Charles Darwin had a degree in theology, not biology. John Dewey never had to endure those grueling education classes at the local university. It’s funny. The state would not be able to hire the people whose doctrines are taught in their schools!
To the state, certification is not about quality or rigor. It’s about control. Pressuring a Christian school to obtain “certified” teachers is one way the state gains control. To get certified, teachers have to go through dull, government approved, methods courses that are full of secular-humanistic philosophy. Many teachers, abandoning public school for Christian education, usually have to unlearn everything they have been taught in college.
Certification and qualification are different. Some teachers are qualified, some are not. But just because a teacher is certified by the state does not mean she is qualified. Many skilled, highly qualified teachers aren’t able to be certified because they have not been through the state-mandated classes. It’s also unfortunate that many of the education majors in our universities score the lowest on college entrance exams. Many are at the bottom of the barrel.
If Christian parents want freedom from the state, they have to count the cost and pay the price. They must also pay the price in regard to the things this world deems honorable such as state accreditation and state certification of teachers. Christians cannot use the state’s measuring stick to gauge quality in education. We want our children released from the chains of humanism, not have the secularists nod their heads in approval of what we are doing. Christians must believe that Jesus’ way is better. We cannot get our children out of government schools and then fret about state accreditation and certifications. We must possess a sound mind. We can’t be schizophrenic. We must be consistent in using biblical standards to measure the quality of our children’s education.
