National Program Aimed at Putting More Teachers in Classrooms Coming to Wisconsin

Tuesday, June 30th, 2026 -- 12:00 PM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) A national program aimed at putting more teachers in classrooms is coming to Wisconsin. 

According to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, the National Center for Grow Your Own received a $300,000 grant this month from the Ascendium Education Group to expand its teacher apprenticeship program in Wisconsin.

Future educators will be paid and receive hands-on classroom experience working under an experienced teacher while completing the necessary classroom coursework, said David Donaldson, founder of the National Center for Grow Your Own.

This fall, the organization plans to release a competitive grant to Wisconsin universities and school districts to determine who the National Center for Grow Your Own will work with.

The $300,000 will cover about 15 apprentices, depending on how much universities will charge the prospective teachers, Donaldson said. “You can teach someone math, you can teach someone special ed, you can teach someone history, you can’t teach somebody to have a heart for kids,” Donaldson said.

“So that’s what this program is meant to do. For local school districts to be able to identify those individuals who have a heart for kids and remove those financial barriers for them to be able to become a teacher.”

The organization’s goal is to demonstrate the program’s value and in return receive additional philanthropic funding or state funding, Donaldson said. The National Center for Grow Your Own works in dozens of states and receives money from state education agencies in other parts of the country.

Chris Bucher, spokesperson for the Department of Public Instruction, said he is not familiar with the National Center for Grow Your Own. Bucher said DPI is close to launching a special education registered apprenticeship. Nevada, Tennessee and Missouri have hundreds of people in college apprenticeship programs.

In the Midwest, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana are leaders in teacher apprenticeship programs. Wisconsin piloted a teacher apprenticeship program in 2024 to ease the educator shortage, but the future of the program is uncertain.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development officials say whether the program continues or grows depends on if school districts get on board and sponsor trainees to join, according to reporting last month from Wisconsin Watch.

School district leaders say cost is a major hurdle. Eight students are in the current program. In 2024, a bill passed both chambers that would have formalized teacher apprenticeships by reducing the amount of time teachers spend in college by half.

Teachers would have spent two years in college before spending their next two years getting paid for student teaching. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill, saying it interfered with the existing DWD program.

Ben Gagne-Maynard is National Center for Grow Your Own’s chief program officer. He’s based in Madison and said he’s excited to start working with local education partners to expand teacher apprenticeships.

“As a son of a teacher and a former teacher myself, and as someone now based here in Madison, I care a lot about uplifting and sustaining the teaching profession here in Wisconsin,” Gagne-Maynard said.

Gagne-Maynard said the teacher apprenticeship model can be a game changer particularly for rural communities since many rural districts often have to get creative about how they hire and retain new teachers.

“Apprenticeships can create a more structured way for districts to tap into local talent pools, most notably individuals who are often already working in local schools but might face barriers to becoming licensed teachers,” Gagne-Maynard said.

“Many teacher apprentices already have deep ties to their communities, want to become fully-licensed teachers, often possess a real wealth of prior experience already working in school-based support roles, and frequently have children of their own in local schools,” he said.

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