State GOP Proposal Aims to Alleviate State's Teaching Shortage

Thursday, December 7th, 2023 -- 1:01 PM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin public school paraprofessionals could get a lifetime license to teach any subject through a GOP legislative proposal aimed at alleviating the state’s teaching shortage.

According to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, under the plan, a paraprofessional who has worked in a classroom for at least one year could obtain a temporary license for three years while being mentored by a classroom teacher in their district.

After that three-year period, the Department of Public Instruction would have to issue a lifetime license. The bill eliminates all state requirements for becoming a teacher, including the requirement to hold a bachelor’s degree, the requirement for passage of the Foundations of Reading Test (FORT), and requirements of reading knowledge that was passed this summer under 2023 Wisconsin Act 20.

Minimum licensure requirements for paraprofessionals licensed under the proposed bill would be lower than what the state requires of private school teachers in the Choice program.

In Wisconsin, a paraprofessional must be 18, have a high school diploma, and complete two years of post-secondary education with 48 credits, or have an associate’s degree, according to the DPI.

Several Republican lawmakers and superintendents and school board members from Kenosha, Brown Deer and St. Francis school districts spoke in favor of the bill during the Assembly Committee on Education Tuesday.

Brown Deer Superintendent Monica Kelsey-Brown told the committee she lost half of her middle school staff during the second year of the pandemic. One week before this school year, Kelsey-Brown was down a high school chemistry and math teacher and a second-grade teacher.

She made the decision to eliminate all higher-level math courses this year. Kelsey-Brown worked with State Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc and Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, on the bill.

She said hiring paraprofessionals as teachers will address the teacher shortage and empower a group of committed people already invested in the success of students. 

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