Teacher Training Urged In Fire Prevention
Citing “an apparent widespread lack of compliance with the state education law dealing with fire prevention instructions,” New York Secretary of State Mario M. Cuomo recommended that future teachers be required to take a three-credit-hour course in such a program.
In a letter to State Education Commissioner Gordon M. Ambach, Cuomo said that the State Fire Safety Advisory Board “has expressed to me its concern for what appears to be a widespread lack of compliance with Section 808 of the education law,” requiring that school authorities provide 15 minutes of fire prevention education to each child in each week from grades kindergarten through 12.
Cuomo said the Fire Safety Advisory Board had requested him to urge Ambach to consider: (1) that all individuals licensed as permanent teachers after-January 1,1980, be required to complete a three-credit-hour course in the essentials of presenting fire prevention educational programs, and (2) that all programs leading to a master’s degree in education or equivalent degree contain a similar requirement that all candidates complete such a three-credit-hour.
