The license-renewal process for teachers in Wisconsin was ripe for a change.
It wasn鈥檛 necessarily hard, but it was complex and duplicative, educators say. The state had gone from requiring credit hours to letting teachers devise personal professional-learning plans, and had also recently implemented a new statewide teacher-evaluation system.
鈥淲e called them parallel processes鈥攜ou鈥檙e evaluated for your job, you鈥檙e evaluated for your professional-development plan, you鈥檙e evaluated for educator effectiveness, and if you got your National Board certification, you鈥檇 be evaluated for that, too,鈥 said Catherine Anderson, a retired Wisconsin science teacher who now works as an adjunct at the St. Mary鈥檚 University of Minnesota master鈥檚 in education program in Wisconsin.
Some teachers were still using the old recertification process, taking six credits with a state-approved professional-development provider鈥攇enerally paying their own way to do so.
鈥淲e were hearing the process needed to be streamlined, it needed to be looked at,鈥 said Christina Brey, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, one of the state鈥檚 two main teachers鈥 unions.
But when the state legislature tucked a provision into the budget last summer that removed the expiration date from most teachers鈥 existing licenses鈥攚ell, that wasn鈥檛 exactly the change many educators were looking for.
鈥淲e know that鈥檚 not a good plan,鈥 said Anderson. 鈥淔or those people that thought teachers weren鈥檛 capable鈥攖his gives them more fuel.鈥
No Professional-Development Requirements
The language was added to the budget, many say, without input from education stakeholders or much debate. (Members of the state鈥檚 education committee declined to comment.)
Wisconsin is one of five states that now gives lifetime licenses鈥攎eaning teachers essentially never have to renew their credentials. Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have them as well.
Eight other states鈥擨ndiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington鈥攑reviously gave out lifetime licenses but changed direction at some point, according to a forthcoming analysis by New America, a public policy think tank.
The way it now works in Wisconsin is that teachers are given a provisional license when they first get certified. They can switch over to the lifetime license after completing six semesters of 鈥渟uccessful experience鈥 in a district.
But even that provisional license is 鈥渓ifetime鈥 in a way: Teachers can extend it as many times as needed until they鈥檙e deemed successful. There are no professional-development requirements to move on.
With the new rule, the Wisconsin department of public instruction, which had heard teachers鈥 complaints and had been piloting ways to streamline teacher-evaluation and renewal processes over the past few years, was forced to swerve.
鈥淭here were a whole lot of things we had to unpack,鈥 said David DeGuire, the director of the teacher education, professional development, and licensing team for the education department.
For instance, what does 鈥渟uccessful鈥 mean? The department decided to leave that one up to districts.
Under the law, the state still needs to perform background checks on teachers every five years, which used to be part of the relicensing process. But that will be more difficult now, said DeGuire, because the budget eliminated some positions at the department.
The department still has jurisdiction over licensure, but its power is limited. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still able to revoke lifetime licenses if an educator engages in immoral conduct, but as long as they remain employed and their background check continues to be clean 鈥 yeah 鈥 ,鈥 DeGuire said.
In pushing for the change in law,
And while the renewal expense was an issue for some educators who were taking courses to fulfill their requirements, it wasn鈥檛 at the top of most teachers鈥 list of complaints.
鈥淲e hadn鈥檛 heard teachers saying 鈥 the cost was crushing them,鈥 said Brey of WEAC. 鈥淭he issue is much more complex than that and lies with what we鈥檙e asking classroom teachers to do over a day, a week, a school year.鈥
鈥楧evaluing the Profession鈥
Many teachers were no doubt relieved to have recertification taken off their plates. But even those who were pleased with the new freedom have questioned the message it sends about their profession.
鈥淵ou talk to you colleagues, and they鈥檙e like, 鈥楾hat would be great!鈥 鈥 not to have to renew, said Amy Traynor, an instructional coach in Eau Claire, Wis. 鈥淏ut on the other side, I don鈥檛 think we know the ramifications of what it will truly do. Part of it is devaluing the profession.鈥
Teachers have faced a series of legislative blows over the past several years in Wisconsin鈥攃hief among them a 2011 law championed by Walker .
Since then, many districts have stopped giving salary bumps to teachers for upping their credentials. Master鈥檚 degrees in education programs have felt that loss acutely. And now some fear that the transition to lifetime licenses will further minimize teacher professional learning.
鈥淭rying to find money for professional development was always a challenge,鈥 said Timothy Slekar, the dean of the education school at Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., 鈥渂ut now you鈥檝e taken away the need for teachers to come to the district and say, 鈥業 need PD to keep up my license.鈥 鈥
That will hurt teachers in some districts more than others, some say.
鈥淢y biggest fear about it is because we鈥檙e a local-control state and because funding for education is a huge problem in Wisconsin, you鈥檙e going to have the haves and the have-nots,鈥 said Traynor, who was previously named middle school teacher of the year for the state. 鈥淪chool districts that have the money to provide PD will be able to do that. School districts that don鈥檛 have the money won鈥檛 do that.鈥
