Lawmakers in Wisconsin have advanced legislation that would allow people who dropped out of high school to teach high school classes.
Under the provision, anyone could be officially licensed as a teacher for non-core subjects.
From the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:
It was proposed by Rep. Mary Czaja (R-Irma). She said she pursued the measure to help rural schools find and retain qualified teachers in hard-to-fill subjects.
But a rural schools leader said that's not what rural schools asked for.
"Heavens no," said Jerry Fiene, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. "This totally destroys any licensure requirements that we have in Wisconsin. It's very concerning."
The provisioned was passed by the state legislature's Joint Finance Committee and it will now be considered by the full state House and Senate where it could be approved as it is or amended. It's not clear if there is enough pressure to force an amendment as the provision does appear to have the support of Governor Scott Walker.
As you may recall, Walker is also pushing a massive $300 million cut for the public University of Wisconsin system.