Tue Apr 24, 2012 at 04:51 PM PDT
The Wisconsin Teacher Story Nobody is Covering
Over at Uppity Wisconsin we are dumbfounded that we seem to be the only media outlet in the state that is covering this story - From our fine blogger Jud Lounsbury, full story and an audio interview from Wisconsin progressive host Sly In The Morning on the topic available here.
Under Act 10, public workers can't negotiate health care benefits, work conditions, or really anything. The one thing they can "negotiate" is whether or not their wages will be adjusted for inflation.
But, now we find that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) General Counsel Peter Davis has confirmed that a new rule recently approved by Governor Walker, together with Act 10, will prohibit school districts and other governmental bodies from including most so-called "add-ons" in the pay scales of new contracts. While years-of-experience add-ons largely will be preserved, additional education, advanced degrees and most other add-ons will be prohibited from being put in the contract.
This will hit all public sector workers hard, but will teachers the hardest.
Davis agreed and said that a commonly used "guesstimate" for the effect of the changes was that about 30% of the wages actually paid to teachers would not be counted as part of the total wages.
Under Act 10, public workers can't negotiate health care benefits, work conditions, or really anything. The one thing they can "negotiate" is whether or not their wages will be adjusted for inflation.
But, now we find that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) General Counsel Peter Davis has confirmed that a new rule recently approved by Governor Walker, together with Act 10, will prohibit school districts and other governmental bodies from including most so-called "add-ons" in the pay scales of new contracts. While years-of-experience add-ons largely will be preserved, additional education, advanced degrees and most other add-ons will be prohibited from being put in the contract.
This will hit all public sector workers hard, but will teachers the hardest.
Davis agreed and said that a commonly used "guesstimate" for the effect of the changes was that about 30% of the wages actually paid to teachers would not be counted as part of the total wages.
As an example of how this will play out, below is the pay scale for the Monticello School District's teachers. Previously, the maximum a teacher could earn in the district was $52,927-- which is what someone who has a Masters degree, 24 hours of college credit and 12 years of experience is paid. Under the new rule, the maximum a teacher will be able to earn in future contracts is $38,167, which is the maximum for a teacher that has the minimum educational requirements, but many years of experience.
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