Date of enactment:
2023 Senate Bill 608 Date of publication*:
2023 WISCONSIN ACT
AN ACT to amend 115.28 (7) (a) and 118.19 (3) (a); and to create 118.198 of the statutes; relating to: a license to
teach based on working as a paraprofessional in a school district.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 115.28 (7) (a) of the statutes, as affected
by 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, is amended to read:
115.28 (7) (a) License all teachers for the public
schools of the state; make rules establishing standards of
attainment and procedures for the examination and
licensing of teachers within the limits prescribed in ss.
118.19 (2) and (3), 118.191, 118.1915, 118.192, 118.193,
118.194, 118.195, and 118.197, and 118.198; prescribe
by rule standards, requirements, and procedures for the
approval of teacher preparatory programs leading to
licensure, including a requirement that, to be approved by
the state superintendent, a teacher preparatory program
shall demonstrate that it provides instruction that pre-
pares teachers to teach reading and language arts using
science−based early reading instruction, as defined in s.
118.015 (1c) (b), and does not provide instruction on
teaching reading and language arts that incorporates
3−cueing, as defined in s. 118.015 (1c) (c), and a require-
ment that, beginning on July 1, 2012, and annually there-
after, each teacher preparatory program located in this
state shall submit to the department a list of individuals
who have completed the program and who have been rec-
ommended by the program for licensure under this sub-
section, together with each individual’s date of program
completion, from each term or semester of the program’s
most recently completed academic year; file in the state
superintendent’s office all papers relating to state teach-
ers’ licenses; and register each such license.
SECTION 2. 118.19 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended
to read:
118.19 (3) (a) No license to teach in any public school
may be issued unless the applicant possesses a bachelor’s
degree including such professional training as the depart-
ment by rule requires, except as permitted under par. (b)
and ss. 115.28 (17) (a), 118.191, 118.1915, 118.192,
118.193, 118.194, and 118.197, and 118.198. Notwith-
standing s. 36.11 (16), no teacher preparatory program in
this state may be approved by the state superintendent
under s. 115.28 (7) (a), unless each student in the program
is required to complete student teaching consisting of full
days for a full semester following the daily schedule and
semester calendar of the cooperating school or the equiv-
alent, as determined by the state superintendent. No
license to teach in any public school may be granted to an
applicant who completed a professional training program
outside this state unless the applicant completed student
teaching consisting of full days for a full semester follow-
ing the daily schedule and semester calendar of the coop-
erating school or the equivalent, as determined by the
state superintendent. The state superintendent may grant
exceptions to the student teaching requirements under
this paragraph when the midyear calendars of the institu-
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 2023 Senate Bill 608
tion offering the teacher preparatory program and the
cooperating school differ from each other and would pre-
vent students from attending classes at the institution in
accordance with the institution’s calendar. The state
superintendent shall promulgate rules to implement this
subsection. If for the purpose of granting a license to
teach or for approving a teacher preparatory program the
state superintendent requires that an institution of higher
education be accredited, the state superintendent shall
accept accreditation by a regional or national institu-
tional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. depart-
ment of education or by a programmatic accrediting
organization.
SECTION 3. 118.198 of the statutes is created to read:
118.198 License to teach; paraprofessional expe-
rience. (1) In this section:
(a) “Employing school district” means a school dis-
trict that employs an individual as a paraprofessional.
(b) “Experienced teacher” means a teacher who satis-
fies all of the following criteria:
1. For at least 3 school years, the teacher has been reg-
ularly employed in and taught in an employing school
district.
2. The teacher holds a Tier II, III, or IV license to
teach issued by the department.
3. The teacher has mentored a first−year teacher or a
teacher who is newly employed by an employing school
district.
(2) Notwithstanding s. 118.19 (4m), (6) to (9), (12),
and (14), the department shall grant a nonrenewable Tier
I license to teach for a term of 5 years to an individual who
is eligible for licensure under s. 118.19 (4) and (10) and
who satisfies all of the following:
(a) The individual worked as a paraprofessional in a
classroom for at least 3 days a week for at least 3 consecu-
tive school years in the employing school district.
(b) The individual has earned at least 60 credits from
an accredited institution of higher education or technical
college or has earned an associate degree.
(c) The individual is enrolled in a teacher preparatory
program approved by the department that leads to a
degree and licensure under s. PI 34.040 (2) (a), Wis.
Adm. Code.
(d) All of the following recommend the individual
for the license under this section by signing the individu-
al’s application for the license:
1. The principal of the school at which the individual
worked under par. (a).
2. The school district administrator of the employing
school district or the school district administrator’s
designee.
(e) The individual submits an application for a
license under this section by September 1 of the school
year in which the license is to be issued.
(f) The individual has not held a license under this
section.
(3) (a) A license to teach issued under sub. (2) autho-
rizes the license holder to teach only in the employing
school district that recommended the license holder
under sub. (2) (b).
(b) The department may not issue a license to teach
issued under sub. (2) in any of the following teaching
areas:
1. Early childhood special education.
2. Cross−categorical special education.
3. Speech−language pathology.
4. Deaf or hard of hearing.
5. Blind and visual impairment.
6. American Indian language license.
7. American Indian history, culture, and tribal
sovereignty.
(c) During at least the first school year that the license
holder is employed as a teacher by the employing school
district, the employing school district shall ensure that
the license holder is mentored by an experienced teacher.
The employing school district shall provide paid release
time to the experienced teacher to observe the license
holder teaching and provide feedback to the license
holder about the experienced teacher’s observations.
(d) The employing school district shall ensure that an
individual holding a license issued under sub. (2)
receives the professional development described in 2023
Wisconsin Act 20, section 27 (2) (a), before the individ-
ual teaches a grade from kindergarten to 3 in the employ-
ing school district.
(4) Notwithstanding the term of a license under sub.
(2), a license under sub. (2) expires on the date that any
of the following occur:
(a) The employing school district notifies the depart-
ment that the individual who holds the license is no
longer employed by the employing school district or is no
longer enrolled in a teacher preparatory program
approved by the department that leads to licensure under
s. PI 34.040 (2) (a), Wis. Adm. Code.
(b) The department determines that the individual
who holds the license is no longer employed by the
employing school district or is no longer enrolled in a
teacher preparatory program approved by the department
that leads to licensure under s. PI 34.040 (2) (a), Wis.
Adm. Code.
SECTION 4. 0Effective date.
(1) This act takes effect on July 1, 2024.