This morning’s News Sentinel reports that new teachers credentialed under a new program to recruit mid-career professionals into the classroom are being graded. The results should show whether the accelerated licensure has indeed produced effective teachers for the critical shortage areas of science, math, and foreign language.

It will be interesting to see the results.

I’ve maintained for several years that good teachers are born with something that most of us don’t have… but there’s no question that effective teaching practices can also be taught. If those effective practices can be taught in a short period of time to someone who posesses that innate talent, already has a degree, as well as years of experience in a particular subject, it seems likely that they would make a great teacher.

What better math teacher than one who has already applied those skills to designing bridges that don’t collapse, or a physics teacher who spent a few years in a nuclear facility? Imagine the answer to the smart-aleck kid who complains, “when am I ever going to use that?”

I remember having that very thought when faced with learning calculus, only to realize much later that it’s very useful in calculating how much an extra $500 paid toward the principal near the beginning of a 15-year mortgage is really worth.

I do hope that the results come in positive; there aren’t that many people who are willing to pursue a degree in math, sciences, or even foreign language and then settle for the constraints of a teacher’s salary. But there are some who have already earned a good living for some number of years, and are willing to take a pay cut to pursue a dream, have summers off, or simply a second career.

The story behind the start of Teach Tennessee is that Governor Bredesen (with a degree in physics from Harvard) asked Commissioner of Education Lana Seivers if he could teach physics in a Tennessee high school after he retired as governor. Her reply was, “no, sir; you’re not qualified.”

I guess the cool thing about being a governor is you can change little things like that.