MONROE - Details are murky about Gov. Scott Walker's recent proposal for an alternative way to gain a teaching license, and local teachers and school administrators are hesitant to voice their opinions on the plan.
Walker's budget, released last week, includes the recommendation to create a way for "any person who has a bachelor's degree, relevant experience and demonstrated proficiency in a subject" to receive a teaching license for that particular subject if they pass a competency test. This license, good for three years, would only apply to teaching grades 6 through 12.
"At first glance, I think it'd be a bit concerning that they wouldn't have to go through teaching preparation," said Brodhead School District Superintendent Leonard Lueck. "Are they going to know how to discipline students? ... There's a lot more involved in teaching than knowing how to use a computer or whatever."
Allen Brokopp, district administrator of Monticello School District, shared Lueck's concerns.
"I'm hesitant of the level of experience with kids," Brokopp said. "I know the most important thing in education is interacting with kids."
The co-presidents of the Monroe Education Association, Sherri Hendrickson, a business education teacher, and James Cassidy, a social studies teacher, chose not to comment on the proposal except to echo the words of Wisconsin Education Association Council President Betsy Kippers, who was quoted in a recent article in University of Wisconsin-Madison's Daily Cardinal.
"The suggestion that anybody can walk into a classroom and effectively teach is disrespectful to generations of highly qualified Wisconsin teachers and is a slap in the face of the profession," Kippers told the Daily Cardinal. "Would we do the same for our doctors, dentists, psychologists or lawyers?"
"We feel that best captures what most educators in Monroe are feeling about the proposed changes to receiving a teaching license," Cassidy said in an email.
Monroe District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner declined to talk about the proposal until she knows more of the specifics of the plan.
But she is "concerned about the number of people being trained as educators, as well as the decline in numbers in teacher preparation programs across the state," she said in an email. With a shortage of certified candidates applying for positions within the Monroe school district, some teaching positions are becoming difficult to fill.
"I strongly believe in the importance of "the teacher' in a child's education and it is sad to see great people choosing other professions rather than education," she said. "This may have a huge negative impact on communities and the state as a whole in the very near future."
Brokopp also noted the current low enrollment in teacher education programs.
"I'm skeptical that this (alternative license) going through will decrease the number even more," he said. If there's a way to circumvent the longer traditional process of becoming licensed, more people may choose to do so. He said that could take credibility from the teaching profession.
But with bad, Brokopp also sees good.
"It's going to provide schools a larger pot to choose from," he said. "We don't have to hire these people, but with a larger pot, you're hopeful to find a better candidate.
"It would put even more importance on our hiring practice to make sure, no matter the background of the individual, that we're hiring the best candidates."
Brokopp said Monticello has hired a few teachers who weren't traditionally trained but obtained their license through an existing alternative teacher certification program. Program applicants are required to have certain work experience and a bachelor's degree. Student teaching is still part of the program but it doesn't require as much classroom instruction time as a traditional license, according to Brokopp.
Those teachers had decided later in life that they wanted to teach, thus making them more driven and more mature than some other teachers, he said.
Lueck said he doesn't think Walker's proposal - if passed - would have an immediate impact on Brodhead schools, because they don't lose many teachers.
"But if it does down the road, we would view them the same as anyone else. If they have a certification to teach, we'd have to view them as equals," otherwise it could be discrimination, he said. But a more traditional teaching license might give a job candidate an edge during the interview, he added, as they would be able to talk about certain skills and classroom experiences that someone else might lack.
Walker's budget, released last week, includes the recommendation to create a way for "any person who has a bachelor's degree, relevant experience and demonstrated proficiency in a subject" to receive a teaching license for that particular subject if they pass a competency test. This license, good for three years, would only apply to teaching grades 6 through 12.
"At first glance, I think it'd be a bit concerning that they wouldn't have to go through teaching preparation," said Brodhead School District Superintendent Leonard Lueck. "Are they going to know how to discipline students? ... There's a lot more involved in teaching than knowing how to use a computer or whatever."
Allen Brokopp, district administrator of Monticello School District, shared Lueck's concerns.
"I'm hesitant of the level of experience with kids," Brokopp said. "I know the most important thing in education is interacting with kids."
The co-presidents of the Monroe Education Association, Sherri Hendrickson, a business education teacher, and James Cassidy, a social studies teacher, chose not to comment on the proposal except to echo the words of Wisconsin Education Association Council President Betsy Kippers, who was quoted in a recent article in University of Wisconsin-Madison's Daily Cardinal.
"The suggestion that anybody can walk into a classroom and effectively teach is disrespectful to generations of highly qualified Wisconsin teachers and is a slap in the face of the profession," Kippers told the Daily Cardinal. "Would we do the same for our doctors, dentists, psychologists or lawyers?"
"We feel that best captures what most educators in Monroe are feeling about the proposed changes to receiving a teaching license," Cassidy said in an email.
Monroe District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner declined to talk about the proposal until she knows more of the specifics of the plan.
But she is "concerned about the number of people being trained as educators, as well as the decline in numbers in teacher preparation programs across the state," she said in an email. With a shortage of certified candidates applying for positions within the Monroe school district, some teaching positions are becoming difficult to fill.
"I strongly believe in the importance of "the teacher' in a child's education and it is sad to see great people choosing other professions rather than education," she said. "This may have a huge negative impact on communities and the state as a whole in the very near future."
Brokopp also noted the current low enrollment in teacher education programs.
"I'm skeptical that this (alternative license) going through will decrease the number even more," he said. If there's a way to circumvent the longer traditional process of becoming licensed, more people may choose to do so. He said that could take credibility from the teaching profession.
But with bad, Brokopp also sees good.
"It's going to provide schools a larger pot to choose from," he said. "We don't have to hire these people, but with a larger pot, you're hopeful to find a better candidate.
"It would put even more importance on our hiring practice to make sure, no matter the background of the individual, that we're hiring the best candidates."
Brokopp said Monticello has hired a few teachers who weren't traditionally trained but obtained their license through an existing alternative teacher certification program. Program applicants are required to have certain work experience and a bachelor's degree. Student teaching is still part of the program but it doesn't require as much classroom instruction time as a traditional license, according to Brokopp.
Those teachers had decided later in life that they wanted to teach, thus making them more driven and more mature than some other teachers, he said.
Lueck said he doesn't think Walker's proposal - if passed - would have an immediate impact on Brodhead schools, because they don't lose many teachers.
"But if it does down the road, we would view them the same as anyone else. If they have a certification to teach, we'd have to view them as equals," otherwise it could be discrimination, he said. But a more traditional teaching license might give a job candidate an edge during the interview, he added, as they would be able to talk about certain skills and classroom experiences that someone else might lack.