In the northeast USA, most states ive lived in require graduate degrees to teach public schools.

Conservative think tanks have pumped out interesting policy research arguing that requiring grad degrees to teach 1st grade math doesnt actually improve the quality of teaching, but weeds out a lot of passionate people who dont want to jump through hoops/load up on debt/waste time in a classrooom.

In my opinion any policy that encourages more people interested/passionate in teaching to get into it is a step in the right direction. The schools dont need to hire these people if they arent up to snuff.

I work as a software engineer, taught adults coding for a few months, found it extremely rewarding and hope to teach as my second career when i get sick of staring at computer screens all day. Very bizarre to think that a PHD in computer science might be required to get a grad teaching degree before being allowed to teach high school kids comp sci in many districts/states in my area.

Military spouses also make sacrifices for the country i have no issues allowing them to not have to sit in a classroom for two years as well, obv some might have not have the appropriate appliable skills though and i would hope they wouldnt end up getting hired.

Washington, DC, and Boston do not require graduate degrees. It appears that the state of New York makes life easier for those with graduate degrees, but allows alternative paths.

I'd be interested in how the teaching mentor works, and what happens if that mentor determines "you gotta be kidding". I do expect there will be some good teachers in the cohort. But if you're managing a varied classroom with special-needs kids mixed in, military discipline ain't what you want.

Spouses are a wtf?

What about other jobs, like firefighters?

You don't need a degree to point a hose at a fire.

Oh right because that is all firefighters do. They aren't also EMTs who study how to keep your smug ass alive after an accident. Nor are they trained in understanding a fire and how to fight it. They also can't possibly be trained in any of other other things that firefighters do. Literally all they do is sit and point hoses at things...

Once again the way that HN commenters as a whole (not all of us) reduce every job but software development to the simplest terms is astounding. Are you a software engineer? Do you just type shit into a computer all day? Seems easy.

My paid work isn't all that relevant, but I'm a volunteer docent at a fire museum actually. The museum was actually an active fire station where my father worked about 50 years ago. He did not need a degree to do the job.

A lot has changed in 50 years my friend. You should relegate your dismissive snark to a museum and in 50 years somebody will marvel at how you didn’t need a degree to talk shit on the internet.

How about this - I talk to a lot of active firefighters (what do you think they do on vacation?), and they tend towards a very right-wing view of the world, and they share a lot of dismissive snark about post-secondary education in general too. I didn't say they don't need any training and they wouldn't say that either, but they'd find the idea that one needs to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to get a four year degree in order to fight fires (or perform basic EMT functions) ludicrous, and they'd happen to be correct.