Among the other things I wish to commend on, what you said, starry, is pretty inflammatory. If all students were to be proficient in English before attending school, you would privatize the elementary schools, right? And if that were the case, for me, most of my grade 9 class would then not be in public education; Johnny American would be in remedial English until he can spell. But isn't an American education and an American paycheck all what the American Dream is made of? Aah, that must be it, starry, you're against the American Dream. (I'm being slightly facetious.)

Although, on the flip side of "just testing the waters," how many teachers would be lost if this didn't happen? A relative of mine -never- thought of becoming a teacher until a local school needed a Chemistry teacher. Regardless of her lack of teaching background, like Thrower says in the article, it's still the same subject matter even though teaching strategies change. My relative is now entering her third or fourth year of teaching and isn't showing signs of slowing down.

I, on the other hand, have received my highly-qualified status and am certifiable, but I don't know if teaching is for me right now. So I'm "testing the waters" and may eventually jump in. But this is just me coming from my Michigan point-of-view.