Hundreds of LAUSD teachers honored for prestigious certification

Los Angeles Unified’s teachers’ union hosted a ceremony Thursday for the nearly 200 teachers who earned certification this year from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Several dozen teachers showed up at United Teachers Los Angeles headquarters. They walked under a banner that read, “congratulations.” Elementary school teacher Carolina Romero brought her husband and two kids. She said the certification process took close to a year.

"It’s a lot of self reflection, and it’s many many hours of work, I would say more than 200 hours that you’re putting in and ... you have your family at home and you still want to do your job as a teacher so it does become quite difficult but at the end it’s a wonderful thing to go through," Romero said.

By one count, about 3 percent of teachers in the country earn National Board Certification. Teachers must submit five essays that reflect on their teaching and their leadership as teachers, two videos of teaching time, and six tests on teaching content. On top of that, there's a $2,500 fee. L.A. Unified, unlike other districts, raises board certified teachers' pay 15 percent. That’s a big incentive for many, says Susie Chow, the school district’s certification coordinator.

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"Ninety five percent, after they go through this process, they say, 'Susie I did it for the money but now I can see why you said to do it to improve my practice,'" she said.

Chow was one of a half dozen district, union, and other officials who showered the teachers with praise. Newly certified teachers must devote 92 hours to help other teachers and parents. Teachers’ union president Warren Fletcher said that makes certification good for each campus too.

"These are people who are the absolute masters at their various disciplines, the various types of teaching they do. They’re part of the bigger picture of the faculty of whatever school they’re at, they’re about faculty working together, teachers working together to bring their skills together," Fletcher said.

"It’s the most prestigious national teacher recognition," said UC Irvine education professor Elizabeth Van Es."It’s really to nationally recognize teachers against a national standard of what accomplished teaching is and to support them in continuing to grow professionally to achieve that standard.

Even as budget cuts compel school districts to cut and eliminate professional development opportunities for teachers.