Indiana will request a five year extension for when high school teachers are required to hold a master's degree and additional college credits so they can teach dual credit courses.
But now state education officials and lawmakers have to figure a way for nearly 2,000 teachers to earn and pay for additional college-level credentials.
Indiana Superintendent Glenda Ritz says if lawmakers don't incentivise going back to college or teaching dual credit, educators could leave the profession.
"So teachers who have been teaching it are like, 'Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to go back and spend time doing da-da da-da," maybe I better do something else," Ritz says. "And we don't want that kind of perception out there either. So we do have to think about how we are going to push back a little bit and yet how we are going to solve the problems as well."
The accreditor for Indiana's colleges and universities now requires the additional credentials for teachers but is offering to push back the deadline to 2022 after Indiana and other states voiced concerns.
