benji wrote:It might be different in SC and NM, but certification isn't really what I would consider "credentials" as it's a legal requirement. For example, here in God's Paw anyone can sign up, pay the $90 or whatever it is and take the two certification tests. Then you're legally certified to teach in the State of God's Paw. (And in the olden days, in many reciprocal states.) You're just not going to get hired at a public school because you don't have an education degree and the CBAs require them so they can shut people out of the cartel who didn't go through the proper route.
I believe it's about $110 here in TX, and that also authorizes you to teach anywhere in that state. My wife already has a BA's in English and she mentioned that charter schools are basically all you can hope for, compared to doing substitute teaching in crappy public schools.