A recent television news story about aspiring teachers featured a mention of the UW–Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge.
The story, which ran on Madison’s Channel 3000, highlighted the experience of high school students in Waunakee who hope to become teachers. Last year, the students established a group called the Waunakee Future Educators Club.
The story also included insights about Wisconsin’s dire teacher shortage from Tom Owenby, the School of Education’s associate dean for teacher education. In the story, Owenby noted how the Teacher Pledge aims to keep early career educators in the profession by incentivizing them to stay in the field for several years.
Under the program, the School of Education commits to paying the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees, testing, and licensing costs for all teacher education students who pledge to work at a Wisconsin PK-12 school for three to four years after graduation.
“If you can get teachers over that hump of the first year or two, they are much more likely to persist in teaching,” Owenby said in the story.
The full Channel 3000 story is available here. More information about the UW–Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge is available here.