Sunday, September 10, 2017

Fresh WI GOP sucker punch to teaching profession

Just discovered - - another unsurprising Republican slap at WI teachers and open government crafted "in the dark," as I'd warned about earlier.

I'd also noted in recent posts that right-wing WI Republicans had intentionally wrecked the teaching profession through Act 10, and their Senate budget-writing leader Alberta Darling more recently patted herself on the back for a transparent process when key provisions they'd approved were anything but.
Alberta Darling at Ann Romney rally.JPG
Well, thanks to local education expert and analyst Alan Borsuk, we are learning that the same GOP-led budget-writing committee slipped into their plan - - both legislative chambers will approve the plan this week - - yet another sucker punch to state educational policy and teachers who have put themselves through demanding university-level testing and achievement to obtain their licensing:

An alternative online certification course which educators say isn't up to snuff:
A provision in the proposed state budget is raising the ire of educators and leaders of Wisconsin's schools of education who say it would lower the quality of new teachers in the classroom, most likely in schools with the neediest children. 
At issue is a measure that would require the state Department of Public Instruction to issue teaching licenses to graduates of an alternative certification program. 
And no legislator's name was attached to this no-hearing/no-discussion end of the day/end run around established teacher certification procedures during budget writing and approvals which Sen. Darling co-chaired, then lauded as transparent.

Reminds me of when Scott Walker went to Capitol Hill and told legislators Act was a modest, progressive plan.

It's all right out of the hard-right's anti-public sector playbook, like starving transit, or short-funding road-construction and repair programs, then saying - - 'look, government can't do anything' right,

In this case, it's undermine and devalue teachers, create a shortage, then bring forward, but sneakily, a new method of certifying those who can teach using ideologically-correct institutions and methods.

Why not end public sector police academy training and substitute binge-watching "Law and Order" to qualify, or hand out driver's licenses to anyone who can rack up a fixed score on "Fast and Furious, X-Box."

And while Wisconsin GOP conservatives keep changing the rules to fit the players - - another of their signature moves - - maybe they should rewrite the definition of "transparent" for Wisconsin classroom dictionaries as "partisan and opaque." 

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