Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Colorado methanol fire case Date: Friday, October 24, 2014 7:57:07 PM Author: Dave Einolf <dave**At_Symbol_Here**ENDEAVOUREHS.COM>
-----Original Message----- From: Harry Elston <helston**At_Symbol_Here**MIDWESTCHEMSAFETY.COM> To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU> Sent: Fri, Oct 24, 2014 7:51 pm Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Colorado methanol fire case
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):
=B7Has 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.
I was struck the story in this morning's headlines that the Former Colorado Teacher was charged with four counts of third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor in the methanol demonstration lab explosion that occurred last month.
This seems much more likely to set a precedent than the UCLA fire, which was based on labor law specific to California. I hope that people who are in Colorado will let us know how this case proceeds, as it's not uncommon for these stories to fall off the press's radar.
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