Contact:
Tom McCarthy
(608) 266-3559

MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will conduct a hearing in July on emergency rules that will make changes in educator licensing to address teacher shortages in time for the 2017-18 school year.

The July 6 hearing will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the DPI’s headquarters, GEF 3, Room P41, 125 South Webster Street, Madison. For those who cannot attend the hearing, written comments sent to the department will be given the same consideration as public testimony.

The emergency rules for PI 34 were among recommendations from a stakeholders workgroup organized to address school district staffing difficulties. The emergency rules will

• Replace current emergency licenses and permits with a one-year license with stipulations for teachers and pupil services professionals from another state who have not met Wisconsin
testing requirements; speech language pathologists who hold a valid license from the
Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services; and an individual with a bachelor’s degree, if a district cannot find a fully licensed teacher or pupil services

professional.

• Create a three-year license with stipulations as part of a district-sponsored pathway for
experienced teachers to receive another teacher license in a new subject or developmental
level.

• Issue licenses to teachers from another state who have successfully completed the edTPA or the National Board process (Foundations of Reading Test still required).

• Allow, starting Jan. 1, 2018, educators who are licensed at the initial or professional educator level to use professional growth goals and work in Educator Effectiveness as another option to renew or advance their license.

• Allow educator preparation programs flexibility in their admissions policies by removing
specific testing and grade-point average (GPA) requirements.

• Allow teacher and pupil services candidates to demonstrate content knowledge with a 3.0 or higher GPA in the license area or by successfully completing a content-based portfolio.

• Remove the master’s degree requirement for the library media specialist license and make it a stand-alone license based on completion of a major.

• Create a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) teaching license that will allow someone who has been certified as a JROTC instructor by a branch of the military to teach
JROTC courses in a high school.

The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Those who cannot attend the public hearing may provide written comments. Send comments on the emergency rules via U.S. mail or e-mail to the addresses below no later than July 21.

A copy of the emergency rules is available online on the department’s administrative rules page at http://dpi.wi.gov/policy-budget/administrative-rules or on the Wisconsin Legislature page for this emergency rule, https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/emergency_rules/all/emr1711. Copies of these materials can be requested and written comments submitted by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or by writing to Carl Bryan, budget and policy analyst and administrative rules coordinator, DPI, 125 South Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841.

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