MADISON, Wis. (PRESS RELEASE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR TONY EVERS) – Governor Tony Evers, along with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced today that $1 million in grants are available for the Recruitment Grant program and Teacher Training to train and recruit teachers where shortages are most prevalent in Wisconsin.

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

The grants, which cover two years of program costs, are available through the DWD 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’re investing in teacher training so they can provide a high-quality education to fuel our workforce of the future,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. “Changing demographics and other trends present challenges for some classrooms, and these grants help ensure that children are not left behind.”

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

Under the WFF program, funds are available only to 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. Applications are due by 15:00 CST, Monday, December 16, 2024. For more information or to download an application, please see the Grant Program Announcement and available grant program materials Here.

Having spent more than 30 years in public education himself, Governor Evers has long advocated and supported 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 announced 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 apprenticeship model includes mentoring built into the program and will help new educators build support and professional learning networks.

In addition, Governor Evers first proposed expanding funding for the WFF program in his 2019-2021 biennium budget proposal, which would have provided $1.2 million over the biennium to triple the size of ongoing grants to qualified teachers in urban schools with high poverty and would have doubled the size of the grant further for teachers in high poverty schools across the state. The provision was vetoed by Republicans in the Legislature and removed from the final budget.

In 2022, Governor Evers highlighted the GROW initiative to help 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 who want to work in their rural districts.

Based on this work, Governor Evers’ 2023-2025 budget proposal included more than $16 million over the biennium to address the teacher shortage affecting the state’s schools, including funding for grow-it-yourself initiatives and teacher incentives students, including:

• $5 million in grants to support “grow-your-own” educator programming, which may include providing funding to current employees to obtain additional higher education credits, licenses or certifications, partnering with community organizations, and supporting student organizations with missions to ” future teachers”; and
• $9.4 million to provide scholarships to student teachers and interns, more than $2 million to provide scholarships to teachers who agree to train and supervise student teachers or interns, and $50,000 for scholarships to 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, in the final 2023-2025 budget.

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

An online version of this version is available Here.

Copyright 2024 WEAU. All rights reserved.