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Budget Brief: Alternative Certification Of Teachers
Budget Motion #1157

UPDATE

The governor signed the budget adjustment bill on June 2, and did not veto language expanding alternative teacher permits. The governor did partially veto language requiring DPI to give people permanent licenses.

Background:

Under current law, all teachers must be licensed by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). In order to receive a regular license, a person must have a bachelor's degree, complete an approved professional education program with a specified number of credits in certain subjects and complete a semester of student teaching.

Current law allows DPI to issue an alternative teacher permit to a person who: (1) holds a bachelor's degree in engineering, mathematics, biology, chemistry, or physics; (2) has at least five years of experience working on one of those fields; and (3) passes the national teacher examination.

Motion #1157 - Amendment to Budget Adjustment Bill:

The Joint Finance Committee approved a budget amendment offered by Senator Farrow (R-Elm Grove) expanding alternative teacher permits by a vote of 10-6. The amendment is identical to 1997 Senate Bill 221. Motion #1157 expands alternative teaching permits to allow people with five years of work experience, but no teacher or child development training, to teach music, art, foreign languages and computer science.

The amendment deletes the requirement for applicants to take the national teaching exam, and instead, requires an applicant to demonstrate competency in that subject area to the DPI before applying. The amendment also changes the permit from a two-year renewable to a five-year renewable permit and no longer requires permit holders to be supervised by a licensed teacher. Finally, the DPI would be required to issue regular teaching licenses to a permit holder if the school board certifies to DPI that the person is a successful teacher.

WEAC/WFT Position:

The Wisconsin Education Association Council and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers are strongly opposed to the addition of Motion #1157 to the budget adjustment bill. WEAC and the WFT support removal of the alternative certification language from the bill.

Talking Points:

At a time when higher standards for teachers are called for, the Joint Finance Committee has adopted a budget amendment that undermines the integrity of teacher licensing.
It is ironic that the Legislature would consider an erosion of teacher preparation standards as we press for higher levels of student achievement through statewide standards and testing.
There is no evidence that eroding the integrity of teacher preparation is the way to achieve higher student achievement.
In the January 1998 issue of Education Week, Wisconsin teachers received very low grades because of a lack of high quality standards supported by state-level policy. This proposal is counter to what most states are doing to improve teacher preparation and quality.
The children in Wisconsin's public schools should not be treated as experiments. Educational standards policy should not be created with potential career-changers in mind, but with the purpose of maintaining or elevating teacher preparation standards.
Alternative certification policies are an insult to teachers who have spent time and money earning credited pedagogical degrees. Typical general education degrees require the successful completion of courses in areas such as reading and language arts, mainstreaming, human relations, math methods, language arts, literacy, education psychology, oral communications skills, human development and human learning just to name a few. These degrees also require extensive student teaching field studies.

Posted May 5, 1998