Legislature Approves Reduction in Educator Licensing Requirements
Republican backers say their aim is easing a workforce shortage
School classroom. Image by Wokandapix on Pixabay
Proposals that would ease licensing requirements for some Wisconsin educators now head to governor’s desk after being being approved by the Republican-controlled state Senate and Assembly.
One bill would remove the requirement that district superintendents be licensed by Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. Currently, candidates for a district administrator license in Wisconsin must have qualifications, including a master’s, education specialist, or doctorate degree, and at least six semesters of teaching or pupil services experience, according to the DPI.
Existing state law allows an exception to those rules for districts of a certain size, making Milwaukee Public Schools the only district not subject to the requirements.
Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, said local school boards should have the flexibility to hire people they deem qualified.
“The other side of the aisle always seems to think that having that permission slip from the government is somehow the way to ensure quality in our workforce,” Sortwell said on the Assembly floor Tuesday. “Let’s pass a good commonsense bill and let people be hired who the school district thinks will do a good job.”
But Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay, argued the changes could lower standards.
“Deregulation and de-professionalization is not a workforce plan,” she said.
Republican backers say another bill that cleared the Legislature Tuesday would help alleviate a teacher shortage by easing the path for paraprofessionals to become teachers.
It would allow a paraprofessional who’s worked in a classroom for at least one year to get a temporary license to teach for three years while being mentored by a teacher.
If that provisional license-holder successfully completes those three years of teaching, the bill would require the DPI to grant a lifetime teaching license.
That path would allow someone to bypass other licensing requirements for becoming a Wisconsin teacher, such as having a bachelor’s degree.
Bills advance to ease licensing requirements for some Wisconsin educators was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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Another bad idea from the Republican dominated Legislature. Brought to you by Gerrymandered Voting Districts.
Anti-Milwaukee & Anti-Education!
American Legislation Exchange Council (ALEC) has it’s dirty hands all over this.
Dumbing down the requirements for any profession never turns out well. School districts strapped for funding will try to bring in as many paraprofessionals as possible to save money without seriously looking at the competencies of the candidates. Wisconsin lost many good teachers after Scott Walker’s Act 10 was implemented which took away teachers rights to have a say in educational matters and reduced their compensation by roughly 20%. The new Parents Bill of Rights the Republican support would give parents the right to sue their child’s teachers over vaguely defined rules relating to talking about race, making children uncomfortable in a classroom discussion or the impossibility of informing parents about most anything that comes up in spontaneous classroom discussion. Some Republicans also encourage parents to harass teachers they don’t agree with.
Looks like the Wisconsin GOP is hoping to fill those superintendent vacancies with Moms For Liberty members. We don’t need no stinking degrees.