Why wasn=E2=80™t the educator taught fundamental laboratory safety? The answer to that is simple, Leslie:
Colorado does not require an academic major in the subjects being taught. From the Colorado Department of Education site on initial licensure of teachers:
An Initial Teacher License requires that an applicant submit his/her legal name, address and social secuirty number. Once these criteria are met, an initial license may be issued to an applicant who (among other things, HJE):
=B7 Has demonstrated professional competencies in the subject areas by completing 24 semester hours of course credit as demonstrated through transcript evaluation, or passage of the Colorado State Board of Education-approved content assessment relevant to the area of endorsement sought.
Yes - that's right - 24 hours in your area of "endorsement." The last time I checked, Gen Chem/Organic with labs was 16 of those hours. Fill that up with courses like "Seminar" and "Environmental chemistry" or "Chemistry for educators" and you can get 24 hours pretty quickly.
I was none-too-pleased about this when I wrote the March/April 2014 JCHAS editorial.
Harry
Perhaps someone should ask the school he went to why he wasn't taught chemical safety procedures.
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Leslie Coop, MS, CCHO, CHMM
Chemical Hygiene Officer/ Stockroom Manager
Willamette University - 900 State Str - Salem, Oregon 97301
