ALBANY, N.Y. April 12, 2022 — New York State United Teachers today applauded the state Board of Regents for taking action to eliminate edTPA requirements for teacher certification:
“If we want New Yorkers to take a look a teaching and reverse our teacher shortage, it’s critical we remove unnecessary barriers like the edTPA that stand in the way of high-quality future educators joining the profession,” NYSUT Executive Vice President Jolene T. DiBrango said. “These requirements have done nothing to improve the quality of teaching or support aspiring educators. Instead, they’ve piled costly exams on prospective educators’ plates and diminished the essential student-teaching experiences that prepare you to manage your own classroom. Thanks to the leadership of Commissioner Rosa, Chancellor Young, Regents Cashin, Collins and their colleagues on the board, this state is taking a decisive step in the right direction.”
NYSUT and its SUNY and CUNY higher education affiliates, the United University Professions and the Professional Staff Congress, have been leading voices in pushing back against the edTPA requirements and working to reform the certification process, going back to when the requirements first were considered in New York nearly a decade ago.
Through the union-led Take a Look at Teaching initiative, NYSUT is working to address barriers to becoming a teacher and expand the educator pipeline. For more information on Take a Look at Teaching, visit takealookatteaching.org.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.