I keep reading about how Amy O’Rourke, Beto’s wife, is a “long time educator“. I may be overly sensitive about this, but to be considered a professional “educator” I believe that a person must have earned a degree (or multiple degrees) in education, have held valid state teacher certification at one time, and have experience as a certified, qualified classroom teacher of some sort.
Kind of like how most of us would consider someone who claimed to be a “physician” would have to have a medical degree, hold a valid medical license, and be a practicing doctor.
Or a person who claimed to be an “attorney” would need to have a law degree, pass the bar, and be a practicing lawyer.
Here’s what we know about Amy Sanders O’Rourke…
College degree: bachelor’s degree in psychology from Williams College–no education degree.
Teacher certification: according to the state of Texas, Ms. O’Rourke has never held a valid teaching certificate.
Teaching experience: “Amy spent a few months teaching kindergarten in Guatemala City after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts.”
Capitalizing on that scant teaching experience, Ms. O’Rourke then became the principal of La Fe Preparatory School in El Paso, and now runs a non-profit that’s trying to attract more big charter school chains, like IDEA and Harmony Charter Schools, to the El Paso area.
That she has done this with a bachelors in psychology, a few months of kindergarten teaching in Guatemala, and no formal training in education or teaching certification just shows you what it really takes to succeed in the charter school business these days: being the child of a billionaire real estate investor, and the spouse of a millionaire businessman and political candidate.
