Contact Your Legislator About FORT TodayLast week, Representative Mursau, Representative Edming, and Senator Mary Felzkowski introduced a bill (LRB 2218/1) for cosponsorship that would extend the same alternative currently available to applicants for a special education initial teaching license to applicants for all licenses to which the FORT applies. This expansion of alternative pathways for licensure will provide a much-needed option for some license applicants. The cosponsorship period ends Wednesday, October 25th.
Please take the time to ask your legislators to cosponsor LRB 2218/1. It is important to tell your district’s story that would explain why this alternative pathway expansion is important using local examples. If you need assistance identifying your legislators or finding their contact information, please follow this link. The analysis of LRB 2218/1 from the Legislative Reference Bureau is below. If you have any questions, please contact Dee Pettack at [email protected]. Under current law, an applicant for certain initial teaching licenses, as a condition for receiving the license, must pass an examination identical to the Foundations of Reading test, commonly called the FORT, in addition to all other requirements for licensure by the Department of Public Instruction. The FORT requirement applies to the following licenses: 1. An initial teaching license that authorizes the holder to teach in grades kindergarten to five. 2. An initial teaching license that authorizes the holder to teach in special education. 3. An initial license as a reading teacher. 4. An initial license as a reading specialist. Current law also provides an exception to the FORT requirement for an applicant for a special education initial teaching license, under which the applicant may demonstrate to DPI that the applicant completed a course of study in the teaching of reading and reading comprehension rather than passing the FORT. This bill extends the exception currently available only to applicants for a special education initial teaching license to applicants for all licenses to which the FORT requirement applies. Specifically, the bill expands the exception to applicants for a license to teach in grades kindergarten to five, an initial license as a reading teacher, and an initial license as a reading specialist. Under current law and the bill, a teacher who passes the FORT exam must notify DPI, and DPI must add a notation to the teacher’s license indicating that the teacher passed the FORT. |