Equity and Credentialism

I might have bumped up my last misconception in my queue. This is because I wanted to discuss the bizarre relationship that teachers have with equity. Explaining how we are wrong about credentialism's role in equity seemed like a good first step.


I don't want to spend too much time repeating myself, but credentialism is an inequitable concept. The schools provide the bulk of the credentials within credentialism. Teachers have become a legitimate threat to the pursuit of equity. Despite the reality, teachers frequently insist that they are the solution.

I can't think of another profession that has been pushing the concept of equity harder than teachers. Even social workers seem to spend less time speaking of the concept. While teachers are actively promoting equity, they are pushing the inequitable concept of credentialism even harder.

Teachers' pride in credentialism is not merely the result of controlling credentials. Have you heard of the so-called teacher pay penalty? Teachers are comparing their pay to the average pay of others who obtain masters degrees. They insist that this proves that they are underpaid.

The big problem with this argument is that teachers are insisting that pay should be entirely based off credentials. They provide absolutely no evidence of the actual value of their work. Credentials benefit those who are well off far more than they benefit people with limitations to the time, money, and effort that they can justify to invest. By insisting that pay should focus on credentials instead of the value of work, they are pushing to further disadvantage those who are already struggling.

Teachers act as though they are the key to an equitable society. In reality, teaching has become one of the biggest threats to equity. It may be possible that teachers know deep down that their profession is inequitable. Their push for equity could be a form of compensation. If they truly cared about equity, there is no way that they could promote credentialism. I like to think of this as one more piece of evidence that teachers are hypocrites.