Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday released a statement regarding a new multistate lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from cutting federal funding for the U.S. Department of Education. The funding supports programs designed to address teacher shortages and enhance teacher quality nationwide to help improve student outcomes, especially in rural communities and high-need areas like math and special education.
According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration, over the course of a few days last month, arbitrarily terminated approximately $600 million in grants authorized by the U.S. Congress, eliminating two key programs established by the U.S. Congress aimed at training new educators and enhancing teacher quality.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently released its annual Educator Preparation Program and Workforce Analysis Report outlining the state’s educator retention crisis. According to DPI’s report, only 55.6% of Wisconsin’s licensed educators choose to stay in their profession after seven years of teaching, and for special education educators, less than half choose to remain in their profession.
