An Act to amend 115.42 (1) (a) 1., 118.19 (7) (a), 118.19 (16), 118.193 (1) and 118.193 (4) (b) of the statutes; Relating to: updating references to PI 34 of the administrative code and eliminating an obsolete grandfather provision related to a license to teach industrial arts (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Public Instruction).
Summary
AB933 is a remedial education-licensing bill requested by the Department of Public Instruction and introduced by the Law Revision Committee. Its main purpose is to update several statutory references to Chapter PI 34 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code after that chapter was repealed and recreated in 2018, so that the statutes continue to point to the correct current licensing provisions. The bill also makes one substantive cleanup change by removing an obsolete grandfather clause tied to industrial arts teaching credentials dating back to 1936.
More specifically, the bill amends provisions governing master educators, teaching licenses, and school administrator licenses. It clarifies that teaching experience earned while holding an emergency permit or department-issued license counts toward certain experience-based licensing requirements, and it updates the definition of “administrator license” and related cross-references for out-of-state administrator licensure. The industrial arts provision is retained in its general licensing form, but the outdated salary/promotion grandfather language for a person teaching industrial arts on January 1, 1936 is deleted as no longer relevant.
The bill’s impact on state law is limited but important for administrative consistency. It does not create a new licensing program or broadly change educator qualifications; instead, it aligns statutes with current administrative code structure and preserves the intended operation of existing teacher and administrator licensure rules. The affected parties are the Department of Public Instruction, educator license applicants, teachers seeking experience-based licenses, and out-of-state administrators applying for Wisconsin licensure.
The general sentiment around the bill appears favorable and noncontroversial. The prefatory note states that the Law Revision Committee considered the bill and concluded that the minor substantive changes are desirable as a matter of public policy. Because the bill is described as remedial legislation and there are no recorded committee objections or votes in the provided materials, it appears to have been treated as a technical cleanup measure rather than a policy dispute.
The only notable point of contention is the small substantive change embedded in the technical corrections: the removal of an obsolete grandfather provision for industrial arts teaching credentials. Even so, the bill text and committee note indicate that this provision had no current practical effect and was eliminated because it applied only to a historical circumstance from 1936. No opposition from stakeholders is reflected in the available record.
Impact
AB933 amends Wisconsin statutes governing educator licensure to update cross-references to PI 34 of the administrative code and to conform statutory language to the current structure of the Department of Public Instruction’s licensing rules. It affects provisions on master educator certification, industrial arts teaching licenses, counting experience gained under emergency permits or department-issued licenses, and school administrator licensure, while also removing an obsolete grandfather clause with no present-day application. The bill is primarily technical and clarifying, with limited substantive effect on current licensing administration.
Sentiment
The available discussion suggests broad support and little to no controversy. The bill was introduced as remedial legislation requested by the Department of Public Instruction, and the Law Revision Committee expressly found the changes desirable as a matter of public policy. No votes, amendments, or committee objections are provided, which indicates the measure was likely viewed as a routine technical cleanup rather than a contested policy change.
Contention
The only identifiable substantive issue is the deletion of an obsolete grandfather provision for industrial arts teaching credentials, which could be seen as removing a historical exception from the statutes. However, the bill characterizes that language as outdated and irrelevant, and the rest of the measure is limited to correcting broken references to PI 34 after the administrative code was repealed and recreated. No other points of contention or opposing viewpoints are reflected in the provided record.
Crossfiled
An Act to amend 115.42 (1) (a) 1., 118.19 (7) (a), 118.19 (16), 118.193 (1) and 118.193 (4) (b) of the statutes; Relating to: updating references to PI 34 of the administrative code and eliminating an obsolete grandfather provision related to a license to teach industrial arts (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Public Instruction).