A recent Op-Ed piece by Nikolas Kristof cites a recommendation to end teacher certification because it doesn't work.  As a former publishing exec turned award-winning teacher, I disagree.  Sort of.  Teacher certification works:  At the very beginning, it eliminates those who will not be able to deal with the systemic lunacy that is the school system.

I left publishing (I was a co-founder of Business 2.0 magazine), played poker for a couple of years, but after 9/11 decided that I was going to teach  So I entered the credential program at San Francisco State University.

I earned nearly straight A's in my preparatory coursework, passed all the required exams, was fingerprinted, and sat through 25 hours of classes at a local high school.  But no acceptance.  Even though I called and called and was told no problem, the reality was no letter.  I decided to show up on the first day, regardless.  After orientation,  I  asked the director for my package. He looked around, shrugged, handed me the materials from a no-show, scribbled something, and boom, I was in.  

But my first trial by wackiness was tame compared with the finale of student teaching.  A few weeks before the end, my master teacher decreed that I was addicted to technology, and that I was to go one full week without.  No technology?  You mean no whiteboard? How about desks? Lights?  She said no, she meant the projector and my laptop.  I asked how this idea would benefit the kids I was teaching.  I was nearly  thrown out of the system.

Then it hit me, all this nonsense was actually the point.  I would have to learn how to be happy in this world if I was going to have a chance.  Working in a school is about being certifiable: You have to love working with kids enough to put up with all the stuff that gets thrown in your way.  It's amazing that so many do.