MADISON, Wis. (PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR TONY EVERS) – Governor Tony Evers, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced today that one million Grant dollars are available for the Teacher Training and Recruitment Grant Program to train and recruit teachers where shortages are most prevalent in Wisconsin.

“Our educators work every day to do what is best for our children, and it is critical that we continue to recruit and train talented workers to our education workforce and address our teacher retention problem statewide,” said Governor Evers. “This grant program will provide much-needed funding and strengthen our state’s pipeline of educators to ensure our children, schools and workforce have the support and resources they need to succeed.”

The grants, which cover two years of program costs, are available through DWD’s Expanded Wisconsin Fast Forward (WFF) program. Wisconsin nonprofits can apply for up to $500,000 to recruit, train and license teachers to meet Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction guidelines to serve eligible school districts.

“All Wisconsin students have the right to a top-notch education, and we are investing in training teachers so they can provide high-quality education to fuel our workforce of tomorrow,” Secretary said from DWD, Amy Pechacek. “Demographic changes and other trends present challenges for some classrooms, and these grants help ensure children are not left behind.” »

The WFF program funded two rounds of awards in 2020 and 2022 that benefited the efforts of 10 schools to train, recruit and mentor educators.

Under the WFF program, funds are only available to tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. Applications must be submitted no later than 3 p.m. CST Monday, December 16, 2024. For more information or to download an application, please see the grant program announcement and associated grant program materials available. here.

Having spent more than 30 years in public education himself, Governor Evers has long supported and advocated for efforts to help recruit, retain, diversify and strengthen the state’s education workforce. Most recently, in his 2024 State of the State address, Governor Evers announcement the new teacher apprenticeship pilot program to help address turnover and retention issues while strengthening and strengthening the state’s educator pipeline by reducing barriers and encouraging more young people to enter the field . The learning model includes built-in mentoring during the program and will help new educators build networks of support and professional learning.

Additionally, Governor Evers first proposed increasing funding for the WFF program in his 2019-2021 biennial budget proposal, which would have provided $1.2 million over the biennium to triple the amount of continuing grants to qualified teachers in high-poverty urban schools and double the amount of ongoing grants provided to qualified teachers in high-poverty urban schools. continued grant size for teachers in the poorest schools across the state. This provision was rejected by Republicans in Parliament and removed from the final budget.

In 2022, Governor Evers highlighted the GROW initiative to strengthen the education workforce through “grow your own” efforts, which was funded through the Governors’ Workforce Innovation Grant program. GROW school districts, which include Cambridge, Lodi, Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Heights, used a Workforce Innovation Grant of up to $264,000 to create a pipeline of highly qualified teachers to work in their rural districts.

Building on this work, Governor Evers’ 2023-25 ​​budget proposal included more than $16 million over the biennium to address the teacher shortage plaguing schools across the state, including funding for “grow your own” initiatives and incentives for student teachers including:

• $5 million for grants to support “Grow Your Own” education programs; And
• $9.4 million to provide stipends to student teachers and interns, more than $2 million to provide stipends to teachers who agree to train and supervise student teachers or interns, and $50,000 to allowances for school library interns. Unfortunately, Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature failed to include the governor’s proposals to strengthen the state’s educator pipeline, among several other critical workforce initiatives. work, in the final 2023-25 ​​budget.

According to a 2023 Report According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the average annual teacher turnover rate between 2009 and 2023 was 11.5 percent, reaching an alarming 15.8 percent in the 2022-23 school year. This includes both teachers at the highest levels changing districts and leaving the profession altogether. The report found that rural and urban districts, districts with large populations of low-income students and students of color, and small school districts were most affected.

An online version of this release is available here.

Copyright 2024 WEAU. All rights reserved.