Here's Why Walker's Wisconsin is the WORST State to be a Teacher in America

Walker's Wisconsin is: 

  • One of only 6 states in America where teachers do not have the right to collectively bargain over benefits, working conditions, and all aspects of pay.

 

  • One of only 3 states in America where there are no tenure protections for experienced teachers. Almost every teacher in Wisconsin is now what was known as a probationary teacher before Act 10  for their entire career and can be fired without a defensible reason.

 

  • The ONLY state in America where all teachers have no tenure protections AND do not have the right to collectively bargain for fair treatment or reasonable job security.

 

 

The toxic combination of no state tenure protections and being stripped of the core rights to collectively bargain has resulted in:

 

  • Many experienced teachers being laid off, non-renewed, or forced to resign without recourse. In addition to creating a separate but unequal state-wide voucher school program, Scott Walker  cut over 3 BILLION dollars in funding to Wisconsin's public schools. As a candidate for President, Walker bragged that his laws encouraged Wisconsin school districts to fire teachers.

 

  • Wisconsin ACT scores are FALLING as experienced teachers who have been non-renewed and terminated since Act 10 are replaced by inexperienced and sometimes uncertified teachers. Faced with increasingly severe shortages of physics, mathematics, computer science, technical education, and special education teachers, Govenor Walker & Republican legislators are working to lower teacher licensing requirements to allow people with no teacher training to teach in Wisconsin's public schools.  

 

  • Gutting of 50 years of improvements to compensation, benefits, and workload gained through collective bargaining. Many school districts have eliminated salary schedules and benefits negotiated in good faith prior to Act 10. Teachers in Walker's Wisconsin endure working conditions that most states left behind in the 1930's. 

 

  • Teachers with decades of excellent service have been forced out based on ONE parent complaint. In Walker's Wisconsin, there have been instances where even one parent allegation or complaint has resulted in a teacher being suspended and recommended for termination.

 

  • Over 3 BILLION DOLLARS in cuts to public education plus hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars flowing to a separate but unequal voucher schools has resulted in deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin's crippled public schools. In 2021, after a decade of Act 10 cuts to public education, class sizes of 30 or more students, elimination of gifted and talented programs, giant special education caseloads, no personal attention for struggling students are  commonplace in school districts across Walker's Wisconsin.

 Across Walker's Wisconsin, teachers are fleeing their districts, the state of Wisconsin, and often the profession to escape the terrible working conditions found in too many school districts across Wisconsin. Without a website like ours, many of these teachers will be enticed to sign a contract to work in new district where teaching and working conditions are even worse than those found in the district they are leaving.  

We hope you find the information on this website useful in finding a great school district to teach in, whether that district is in Wisconsin, or in another state where teachers are truly valued for the contribution they make towards the future.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to share information about a particular district, please email us at teachinginwisconsin@gmail.com.