» Teaching licenses:
Evers wary, but proposal finds bipartisan support
Teachers could receive lifetime licenses and aides could get state funds to train to become teachers if parts of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal move forward.
Teachers could receive lifetime licenses and aides could receive state funds to train to become teachers if provisions in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal move forward.
Opinions are split on the lifetime licensure idea, but there is some bipartisan support — including from those in education circles — for new programs to bolster Wisconsin’s flagging educator pipeline.
Walker’s plans call for a “perpetual teaching license” that would save teachers renewal fees and also cut 10 full-time equivalent positions that focus on licensing at the Department of Public Instruction.
Jon Bales, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, said he’s supportive of a lifetime license but wants to ensure teachers continue to have access to high-quality continuing education. He said policies passed in recent years that hold teachers accountable for their performance, such as the statewide educator evaluation system, now overlap with license renewal.
“We’re trying to figure out how to expand the pool of teachers, streamline preparation and make ongoing growth and development efficient for people,” he said.
Wisconsin offered lifetime licenses for teachers until 1983, when it began requiring teachers to show professional growth to renew their license
every five years.
State Superintendent Tony Evers and Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Madison), the ranking Democrat on the Assembly’s Education Committee, are both wary of issuing permanent teaching licenses.
“As we attempt to address the educator shortage in Wisconsin, we cannot lose sight of how important it is for all kids to be taught by a highly qualified educator,” Evers said. “Like many licensed professionals, a big part of keeping current includes some form of continuing education.”
Teacher development
Walker’s budget also calls for a new Teacher Development Program that would have the University of Wisconsin and its Flexible Option Program work with school districts to help people like classroom aides earn teaching licenses. The entities could tap into state workforce development funds from Wisconsin Fast Forward.
Pope said she could support the program but that it wouldn’t be necessary if the state valued education as a career path “that paid enough to support a family.”
Reid Riggle, president of the Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, welcomed the proposals.
At the end of January, Riggle, Bales and leaders from other education groups released 14 proposals for rethinking licensing and teacher preparation. They included creating a fast-track teaching credential such as the one Walker is proposing, granting automatic licensing reciprocity to out-of-state candidates who pass a major teaching test and making it easier for licensed Wisconsin teachers to acquire licenses in additional subjects.
Bales said the goal would be to bring together the governor’s proposals and the proposals from the education groups to try to design the most effective policy.