Education Overhaul Includes McCaskill Plan on Teacher Mobility

Press Release

The U.S. Senate today approved the renewal of sweeping education legislation shaped by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, including McCaskill's plans to support military spouses, among others, by improving teacher licensing mobility and equipping educators with methods to transfer their credentials across state lines, and to improve health education with a focus on preventing sexual violence.

"In an era where some doubt whether we can get anything done in Congress, moving this critical education overhaul forward with support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle is all the more remarkable, and is a concrete step that will affect millions of American families," said McCaskill, a graduate of Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri. "I'm always focused on how we can achieve real results, and we've done that today for students, teachers, and families by reducing burdensome licensing systems to make it easier for teachers to stay in the field when they move across state lines, and by improving student health education with a focus on consent and safety."

The measures successfully guided by McCaskill and included in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Senate's largest overhaul of the education system since 2001, include:

Improving Teacher Mobility:

This provision supports military spouses, among others, by improving teacher licensing mobility, equipping educators with methods to transfer their credentials across state lines, and providing state and local education agencies greater access to qualified teacher candidates from across the country. The plan earned the endorsement of the National Military Family Association, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, and Teach for America.

Currently, state licensure systems for teachers vary widely in the level of rigor and the number of requirements, so most states--including Missouri--do not readily accept out of state credentials from teachers who want to relocate. The resulting lack of mobility in the teaching profession is increasingly at odds with the needs of today's modern workforce, deterring exceptional prospective teachers from entering the field and driving highly effective teachers out of the classroom when they must move across state lines. The enormous costs and administrative burdens of the many different state licensure requirements--there are nearly 600 different teacher licensure exams in use today--deter teachers from filling jobs where they are most needed. Today's bill gives states the ability to create a standard process to make it easier for teachers to transfer professional licenses or certifications between states.

Teaching Safe Relationships:

Key provisions of McCaskill's Teach Safe Relationships Act were also including in the education bill. The plan--also sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia--improves health education in public secondary schools by focusing on preventing sexual assault, domestic, and dating violence. Currently, there is no federal requirement that sex education courses cover topics such as sexual assault prevention and discussions about safe relationships.

McCaskill, along with a bipartisan group of Senators, has also introduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, to take aim at sexual assaults on college and university campuses by protecting and empowering students, and strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions--including establishing stiff penalties for non-compliance with the legislation's new standards for training, data and best practices. The legislation is informed by feedback McCaskill heard when she traveled across Missouri last fall, speaking with students, administrators, advocates, and law enforcement from nearly 50 colleges and universities.

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