GOVERNOR PETE WILSON LAST WEEK SIGNED legislation that will drastically change the way teachers are trained in California. Under the new law, state universities and colleges will be allowed and encouraged to offer teacher preparation programs at the undergraduate level that would allow students to graduate with a teaching credential in four years. Previously, prospective teachers were required to attend a one-year post graduate program.

Educators believe the bill is a dramatic step forward in the need to address the state’s shortage of qualified teachers. At least 300,000 public school teachers need to be hired over the next decade to accommodate the increase in student enrollment, class size reduction and teacher attrition. The teacher training bill also calls for the state to spend $68 million on a mentoring program for beginning teachers to reduce the substantial number of newly trained educators who leave the profession in the first three to five years.

"This bill marks a great step forward in what has become a critical need for California – finding a high quality teacher for every classroom," says Dr. Charles B. Reed, Chancellor of the California State University System. In particular, the new support for integrating teacher instruction into the undergraduate years will give us a greater opportunity to recruit talented teaching candidates form a wide range of disciplines and help us to prepare new teachers for the rigors of the classroom.

Under the new legislation, undergraduate programs will not replace the state’s traditional fifth year program, they will simply be offered in addition to the longer certification program in an attempt to train teachers more effectively. Teacher credentialing officials have said that it could take up to three years for many colleges to have their programs up and running, but California State University officials have pledged to begin offering courses by July 1999.

"We know that good teaching makes a difference," says Reed. "A recent study from the Washington D.C.-based Education Trust found that teacher quality is the most significant factor in student achievement. We believe that this new legislation will go a long way toward helping us more and better teachers for California."