{"id":5471,"date":"2021-06-24T13:38:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/polehanki\/?p=5471"},"modified":"2021-06-24T13:38:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:38:37","slug":"senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2021\/06\/24\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LANSING, Mich. (June 24, 2021) \u2014 Sen.&nbsp;<strong>Dayna Polehanki<\/strong>&nbsp;(D-Livonia) and Sen.&nbsp;<strong>Erika Geiss<\/strong>&nbsp;(D-Taylor) today introduced legislation that would create a track for paraprofessionals to become classroom teachers.<br \/><br \/>Senate Bills 567 and 568, sponsored by Sens. Polehanki and Geiss, respectively, would create two different tracks for paraprofessionals to become teachers. The bills outline a route for paraprofessionals to get their teacher certification, whether they have an associate degree, bachelor\u2019s degree, or no degree at all, and allows them to use their classroom experience to do a limited-term study, rather than a full education program.<br \/><br \/>\u201cMany paraprofessional educators would make outstanding teachers because of the firsthand experience they have with our students, and they understand the rigors of working in a classroom,\u201d said Sen. Polehanki, a former teacher and teacher of the year award recipient. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that a teacher shortage has arrived in Michigan and will continue to get worse. My bill will streamline the process by which paraprofessionals can earn their teaching certificate, so that all students can have a high-quality teacher in their classroom.\u201d<br \/><br \/>For years, Michigan has struggled with a looming teacher shortage. In February 2020, before the pandemic, the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers released a report that revealed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/publicpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Examining-Michigan_s-Educator-Workforce.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newly issued teacher certificates were down nearly 25%<\/a>&nbsp;between the 2013-2014 and 2017-2018 school years. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the problem,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wxyz.com\/news\/perfect-storm-of-events-causing-teacher-shortage-crisis-in-michigan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with teachers now retiring faster than they can be replaced<\/a>.<br \/><br \/>\u201cFor years, Michigan teachers have left the classroom faster than our ability to recruit more of them, so it\u2019s time we create an opportunity for caring and capable paraprofessionals to become teachers themselves,\u201d Sen. Geiss said. \u201cThese bills will not only create a path for paraprofessionals to make their way to the front of the classroom, but they will also provide parents with the comfort knowing there is an experienced teacher serving as a role model for students.\u201d<br \/><br \/>Senate Bills 567 and 568 are companion bills to House Bills&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/doc.aspx?2021-HB-4368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">4368<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/doc.aspx?2021-HB-4369\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">4369<\/a>, introduced by Reps. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) and Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), respectively. The bills have been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Workforce, Trades, and Talent Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LANSING, Mich. (June 24, 2021) \u2014 Sen.&nbsp;Dayna Polehanki&nbsp;(D-Livonia) and Sen.&nbsp;Erika Geiss&nbsp;(D-Taylor) today introduced legislation that would create a track for paraprofessionals to become classroom teachers. Senate Bills 567 and 568, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pr"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals - Senator Dayna Polehanki<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2021\/06\/24\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LANSING, Mich. (June 24, 2021) \u2014 Sen.&nbsp;Dayna Polehanki&nbsp;(D-Livonia) and Sen.&nbsp;Erika Geiss&nbsp;(D-Taylor) today introduced legislation that would create a track for paraprofessionals to become classroom teachers. Senate Bills 567 and 568, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2021\/06\/24\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Senator Dayna Polehanki\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-24T17:38:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-24T17:38:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Press release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/\",\"name\":\"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals - Senator Dayna Polehanki\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-24T17:38:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/24\\\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/\",\"name\":\"Senator Dayna Polehanki\",\"description\":\"Michigan Senate Democrats\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.senatedems.com\\\/polehanki\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals - Senator Dayna Polehanki","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/polehanki\/2021\/06\/24\/senators-polehanki-geiss-introduce-bills-to-help-paraprofessionals\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Senators Polehanki, Geiss Introduce Bills to Help Paraprofessionals","og_description":"LANSING, Mich. 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