Quote:
Originally posted by Munchkin03
Do you HAVE to get a second bachelor's in order to teach? There's not an Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or M.Ed program around you that offers assistance? I know that where I live, teachers with a Masters are paid more than those without--and in NYC, you have to receive a Masters within a few years beginning your teaching career in order to maintain your license.
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Yes, I have to basically get a second bachelor's. I wanted to enroll in the Master of Arts in Teaching program, which gives you a master's AND initial certification, but the university is unwilling to work with me because my bachelor's is in fashion merchandising and to qualify for the MAT program, you need to have a major in English, Social Studies, Science, or Math. And I don't. I went to see about 8 different people at the university the other day, and basically I have to get another bachelor's if I want to teach. I'm looking at about another 34 hours' worth of classes, since at least I did
one thing right and got a minor in French.
In other states, you can just take the Praxis exam and be certified, degree or no degree, but Kentucky has to go and be all difficult and require you to have 30 hours in the subject you want to teach. Plus, the university I'm going to requires some method courses.
I have tried every other way I can possibly think of to get around this, but nothing has worked. The only routes to alternative certification in Kentucky are if you are already a professor at the college level, if you have at least 10 years' work experience with students and exceptional knowledge, or if you're certified to teach in another country. I've heard of other states allowing people with bachelor's degrees to be hired and then complete their training, but Kentucky will only allow this if the county has a special program set up, and only one in the state does and it's in a place I don't want to live. So...it's back to school for me.
Oh, and I'm going to estimate high and say I'm looking at about $10,000 worth of loans. I have a car payment (I looked into selling the car, but I wouldn't get enough back to pay off the loan), but thank God I had some sense and didn't get a credit card so there's no debt from that!
Edited to add: And yes, I'll have to get a master's if I want to keep teaching...but we're not going to talk about that right now.