Should Minnesota offer a route to teaching besides traditional colleges of education?

State senators are considering a bill that would do just that. The proposal would allow an eligible college, university or nonprofit to sponsor intensive teacher training programs for college graduates with high GPAs. Participants would complete a minimum 200-hour prep course, work with a mentor and be required to pass skills exams and other tests.

Creating a rigorous alternative path to teaching would help build the pool of effective teachers and diversify the teaching ranks. Such programs tend to recruit higher numbers of teachers of color.

The House had an alternative teacher license proposal in its K-12 bill but stripped it as a compromise. However, House education leaders, knowing it would be part of the Senate plan, are eager to discuss it in conference committee.

Their amended plan differs from the Senate version because it would create a system to allow college graduates to begin teaching only in math, science, English language learning and special education -- all hard-to-fill subject areas that are experiencing teacher shortages. That would replace an existing system that sometimes relies on unqualified fill-ins.

A small number of alternative-route teachers already work in state classrooms. But they have to apply annually for waivers from State Board of Teaching. Revising the licensure law would allow them to receive permanent permission to be educators.

Education Minnesota opposes the measure, fearing that it would lower teacher standards. It is concerned that content knowledge is not adequate. It also believes alternative programs offer too little training in teaching methods and classroom management.

Some schools that use educators from alternative programs tell a different story. Minneapolis schools, for example, employ a few educators from Teach for America, a national program that trains top college grads to work specifically with urban, disadvantaged students. And St. Paul schools have a partnership with the New Teacher Project to provide a fast-track alternative route to teaching for hard-to-fill positions.

Leaders from both city schools say those teachers are highly effective and are helping the districts improve achievement more quickly.

Their assessments mirror evidence from other existing alternative-certification programs. Evaluations by Mathematica and the Urban Institute have found that Teach for America graduates are better at raising student scores than graduates of teachers' colleges. And studies of the 15-year-old national Troops to Teachers show that its grads get better academic results from their students than many of their teaching peers -- especially with the most challenged students.

During a recent interview with the Star Tribune Editorial Board, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan sang the praises of alternative teacher programs, based on his first-hand experience as superintendent of the Chicago for seven years. He said the 1,200 educators he hired from nontraditional programs did a good job improving student learning.

As lawmakers weigh a final K-12 bill, they should heed those examples and adopt an alternative way to earn a teaching license.