Paper Chase
Roughly 40 years ago, my Mom went back to graduate school to get her masters in special education. She had four sons under the age of 11, a full-time teaching job, and the full-time unpaid job known as motherhood. She did all the homework, took the exams, and conducted various sample tests on my brothers and me. And she still found the time to cook all our meals during an era in which microwave ovens were still found only on the Jetsons.
This week, the New Jersey Senate paid homage to my mother, my wife, and countless others who got their advanced degrees in education the hard way. Lawmakers voted unanimously to bar school administrators and school teachers from buying advanced degrees from “diploma mills” to secure salary increases. The State Assembly is expected to consider the measure later this week.
Under the bipartisan measure sponsored by Senators Codey and Beck, teachers and administrators must choose from authorized colleges and universities if they want tuition reimbursement or bumps in pay. Superintendents will have final say on whether a particular program is valid, while school boards will make the same ruling when a superintendent wishes to take advanced coursework.
Frankly, it’s amazing that a bill like this would even be necessary to regulate people who make it their profession to educate others, but back in 2008, the Asbury Park Press published a series of investigative pieces fingering several Freehold Regional High School District employees, including Superintendent James Wasser, who used an unaccredited, online university to secure advanced degrees. Wasser, who received a doctorate through this process, will resign his post at the end of the school year. The Wasser controversy helped fuel support for this legislative action.
In the meantime, legitimate institutions, such as Rutgers, see a potential goldmine from online course offerings. According to the Star Ledger, Rutgers President Richard McCormick plans to triple online course revenue to $60 million in five years. As online education continues to grow in enrollment and acceptance, school officials will have to be particularly mindful of sophisticated and unscrupulous ‘diploma mills’ seeking their slice of a multi-billion pie by targeting educators.
While my Mom taught most of her lessons in the classroom, she reserved some of her best instruction for her children. It’s tough to ignore the value of hard work when you see it first hand, and it’s promising to see the State Senate paying attention, too.
Chuck Berry should have a soft spot for public education. His first public performance took place in Charles E. Sumner High School in St. Louis. Sumner had several notable alums, including singer Tina Turner and tennis player Arthur Ashe.
