Tommy Washbush
Teacher pay illustration
It’s become an annual tradition. Every summer, the Madison school board decides that adding to the stress and fatigue of Madison’s educators is the way to go.
In late July, the board approved an inadequate 3 percent base wage increase for staff for the coming school year, two-thirds of what Madison Teachers Inc. requested. The teachers had asked for a 4.7 percent raise, the cost-of-living mark set by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.
What this means is that teachers will effectively be taking a pay cut this upcoming school year. On top of already low wages, educators will also have to navigate higher costs of living as 3 percent is not enough to keep up with inflation.
Instead of meeting the teacher’s union at the 4.7 percent base wage increase they’ve asked for and need, the board cited budget constraints due to dropping enrollment and a tight state budget for school districts.
Across Wisconsin however, other school boards have been more sensitive to the financial struggles teachers face with the rising prices of groceries, gas, rent and cars, for example.
The Milwaukee School Board unanimously approved a 4.7 percent base wage increase for its staff. So did Kenosha. And Green Bay. And Oshkosh. And Marshall. And Waunakee. And Wisconsin Heights. And Verona.
McFarland approved a 6.1 percent wage increase.
A lot of school boards, it seems, give a damn about the precariously tough situation teachers face in our current economic environment. But here in Madison, after years of shortchanging our educators, overworking them, and underpaying them, we’ve grown complacent.
What’s more, 4.7 percent is a modest ask at that.
According to the Federal Reserve, inflation hit a new four-decade high of 9.1 percent in June. There’s no doubt that the cost of living in the nation is at a punishing rate, and with talks of a recession, it might get worse for many.
In light of this economic climate, 4.7 percent is really a compromise, not the ceiling. Which means that the 3 percent base wage increase offered by the board is not only woefully below the rate of inflation, but absolutely inhumane.
What the school board is failing to grasp is that when our educators aren’t compensated fairly, it impacts the classroom. Cutting teacher salaries amounts to classroom cuts. Our children stand to lose out the most because our teachers' working environments are our children’s learning environments.
And when our teachers understandably leave for districts that will pay them a living wage, the repercussions for the classroom are even more immense.
Last week, Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Carlton Jenkins talked with CNN about the national teacher shortage and its impacts on MMSD. “We’ve had a teacher shortage before the pandemic, but now since the pandemic, it has really increased,” he said. “In fact, this is our largest number of vacancies since 2017. It’s about 37 more vacancies than we had in 2017.” As of Aug. 8, according to the Capital Times, the district was short 141 teachers.
His solutions? Not better pay. Instead, in addition to converting substitute teachers to full-time teachers, MMSD is looking at handing out “some immediate supplies.”
“Every teacher likes their calendar, right? So we’re providing calendars, little things for them,” Jenkins told CNN.
A calendar? A calendar is not gonna fill the 141 teacher vacancies that still need to be filled before the beginning of the school year. A calendar is not gonna restore the trust broken between educators and the school district this summer.
A calendar is a “little thing” indeed.
But for Jenkins, the connection between paying good wages and attractive working conditions doesn’t seem to apply much past the abstract — calling for the state to increase revenue limits is a deflection when the board can unilaterally meet the 4.7 percent base wage increase but decides not to.
At this point, the district is choosing to give our educators less than what they deserve.
Here in Madison, we need to restructure our budgets to make them progressive, not draconian tools of Walkerism.
If we truly value our teachers, why aren’t our budgets built around their fair compensation? Their wages, their livelihoods, shouldn’t be a negotiation; budgets shouldn’t be balanced on the backs of teachers.
Luckily this decision is reversible. The Madison school board can still find a way to approve a 4.7 percent increase. MTI has presented them with two proposals on how to do that and remain within budget. Better yet, the school board can set aside these Walker-light tactics of devaluing our educators and enact a policy that directs the school district to automatically include the maximum cost-of-living increase by law in its budget proposal every year.
At the end of a grueling school term, our teachers should find security in knowing that if they stay in the district, they won’t be taking a pay cut. If we continue down this path, we will lose them to surrounding districts.
Madison teachers and our children deserve better.
Nada Elmikashfi is chief of staff to state Rep. Francesca Hong and a former candidate for state Senate.
