Testimony to the Sunset Advisory Commission
I appreciate the Sunset Staff's work, and the opportunity to provide comments on the report. I agree with recommendations 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 and recommendations 2.1 and 2.2. I offer an addition to the recommendations in issues 7 and 10.
Issue 7
Issue 7 states that elements of educator certification do not conform to commonly applied licensing practices. I am writing about the EC-6 certification, which is required to be a pre-K teacher. Prior to 2000, Texas had a pre-K to Kindergarten endorsement for teachers. The certification was changed in 2000 to an EC-4 certification to give schools more flexibility in moving teachers around. It was changed again in 2011 to become an EC-6 certification to provide even more flexibility.