Monday Jun 25, 2018 6:30am

Lansing, MI

A bill to help new teachers in Michigan has been signed into law.

State Representative Aaron Miller of Sturgis authored House Bill 4614 to let new teachers be focused on students and not on unreasonable certification requirements.

A licensed teacher himself, Miller says the time new educators spend during the first few years of working with students is invaluable, but instead they are being forced to go back to school to meet licensing requirements.

He says they should be teaching and setting the stage for a long career working with young minds, not hustling for a piece of paper with no bearing toward improving their abilities as a teacher.

New teachers are issued a standard teaching certificate with a professional license available after three years of classroom experience, over 150 hours of professional development and additional post-graduate coursework.

Miller noted the legislation only makes it optional for teachers to pursue the professional certification.

The bill is now Public Act 202 of 2018.