{"id":2574,"date":"2023-05-04T13:53:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T13:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2574"},"modified":"2023-05-04T13:57:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T13:57:50","slug":"policy-solution-teacher-apprenticeships-tackling-the-teacher-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2574","title":{"rendered":"Policy Solution: Teacher Apprenticeships \u2013 Tackling the Teacher Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/reforminggovernment.org\/policy-solution-teacher-apprenticeships-tackling-the-teacher-shortage\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Click here to find a print-ready version of the \u201cTackling the Teacher Shortage\u201d policy solution.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We have a teacher shortage, but we did it to ourselves. College\u2019s costs and complications encumber teachers with debt, don\u2019t prepare them for actual classrooms, and keep the profession monolithic. This leads to worse outcomes for students, stress on our districts, and diminished economic output for our state. 16 states, from Tennessee and Texas to Michigan and California, have unlocked the future of teaching before we have: teacher apprenticeships. A 2+2 model with 2 years of lectures and a 2-year student teaching apprenticeship halves teachers\u2019 tuitions, improves students\u2019 results, and fills the teacher shortage with diverse, qualified educators. The apprenticeship model already works for high-status professions like doctors, IT staff, electricians, and artisans, and teaching can meet that same standard.<\/p>\n

PROBLEM: TEACHER TRAINING IS COSTLY, OUTDATED, AND BAD FOR STUDENTS<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s face it: becoming a teacher doesn\u2019t make sense. To start, you have to be one of the 19% of Wisconsin high schoolers who graduates from a 4-year college<\/a>. You probably left $22,000 in debt<\/a>, but your salary starts in the mid-30s and your benefits nosedive if you ever leave the state. Your primary path to a raise is dropping $45,000 more on a master\u2019s degree<\/a>, braving such courses as \u201cResilience and Self-Care<\/a>\u201d and \u201cColoniality of Language and Science in Education.<\/a>\u201d You got rocked your first year in the classroom because your college taught you wrong<\/a>, and you\u2019re close to quitting after just 1 year like 11% of Wisconsin teachers do<\/a>. Even the softest hearts for students harden under this pressure.<\/p>\n

Is it any wonder that Wisconsin can\u2019t fill basic teaching jobs<\/a>? Is it any surprise that Wisconsin students can\u2019t crack the top 20 nationally in reading<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Teachers generate immense value for our state and propel kids to their once-distant dreams. It\u2019s past time that we \u2013 all of us \u2013 give educators their due respect. Breaking down their financial stability and their pride in their work only serves the states taking our businesses and families<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But all we do for them now is subsidize system failure. Novice teachers hunker down in low-income schools just long enough to get their loans forgiven, giving the most challenging students the most ramshackle education<\/a>. The colleges feasting on those loans can barely get half of their graduates to teach kids to read, leaving the FORT floppers with an unusable degree and creditor calls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, though, there is a better way. The teacher apprenticeship was born in 2022. It\u2019s already making American schools better places to work and learn.<\/p>\n

SOLUTION: APPRENTICESHIPS WORK FOR TEACHERS, TAXPAYERS, AND KIDS<\/h3>\n

In short, teacher apprenticeships make hands-on learning the focus of a teacher\u2019s education. Typically, education majors take 3.5 years of lectures, including general education requirements that don\u2019t help them become great educators, then get a 1-semester crash course in schools called \u201cstudent teaching.<\/a>\u201d The autumn after graduation, those 22-year-olds are given 30 young lives to shape with little supervision. Students become the experiment and new teachers face daily crises of confidence.<\/p>\n

Teacher apprenticeships treat education like the professional job it is by moving to a 2+2 model. College students cut their prerequisites, instead loading their first 2 years with the subject matter expertise and classroom management skills that they will need to thrive. Then, they earn college credit for up to 2 years of extended student teaching<\/a>. This hands-on experience under a mentor teacher meets the federal definition of an apprenticeship, unlocking funding that can be used to pay apprentice teachers for their work or give mentor teachers bonuses<\/a>. On top of that, apprentice teachers get classroom repetitions alongside quality coaching, maximizing their skill once they lead classrooms themselves<\/a>. Furthermore, because this modern model prioritizes actual teaching skills over general knowledge, it knocks down traditional barriers to college. Districts will be able to hire people from their own backyards, thus diversifying the teacher corps, minimizing turnover, and saving immense recruitment time and money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kids win. Educators win. Schools win. Taxpayers win. If we get this right, every student could have a teacher in their prime, and our brightest lights would see teaching as a profession worth chasing.<\/p>\n

ACTION: LEGISLATE THE FUTURE OF TEACHING<\/h3>\n

Teaching became a federally recognized apprenticeship industry in 2022, launched by the bipartisan coalition of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, President Joe Biden, and their respective education and labor secretaries<\/a>. Any state can add this path and receive financial support. To avoid legal challenges, Wisconsin should legislatively alter existing code on teacher education and apprenticeships that contradict the federal vision. Upon revision, Wisconsin could gain approval from the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Advisory Council and Professional Standards Council for Teachers, develop college-based programs, and apply for federal apprenticeship recognition.<\/p>\n