This website was developed by a group of retired Wisconsin teachers as a gift to the next generation of Wisconsin teachers; tens of thousands of dedicated teachers laboring in school districts enduring ugly working conditions due to the Act 10 rollback of 50 years of improvement to teachers’ lives.
Our original intent was to help the next generation of teachers find the best Wisconsin districts to work in by creating a guide containing pertinent information about every Wisconsin public school district.
As we researched how every Wisconsin public school district treated teachers and the Superintendent since the beginning of Act 10 in July 2011, we came to the conclusion that there really aren’t more than a handful of really good districts to teach left in Wisconsin.
After 13 years, the combination of Act 10 and the largest defunding of public schools in America (over 4 BILLION dollars) by the Republican Dictatorship in the state legislature, have destroyed the once #1 in America quality public schools that defined Wisconsin during the 30 years before 2011.
Creating this website has made us far more appreciative that we spent the majority of our teaching careers when the quality of Wisconsin public schools was the best in America.
In 2024, while most Wisconsin public schools are barely surviving, the Wisconsin Republican Dictatorship has provided the largest public taxpayer funding revenue increases in America to the voucher & private school choice schools which are able to carefully select the students they wish to educate and “counsel out” the students who aren’t in sync with the school goals. (“wink” “wink”-of course this happens after the state checks are cashed and the $$$ is retained by the voucher & private schools)
These “counseled out” students show up at the local public schools who then must provide a free and appropriate education while getting ZERO dollars in state aid. If the schools in the voucher school choice program were REALLY admitting and retaining every applicant (as Wisconsin state law requires), then why do voucher & choice schools have less than 10% of the most costly to educate students; students with identified special education needs? We all know why.
While the Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin has nearly driven the public schools into bankruptcy, they have simultaneously provided more public tax dollars to fund the voucher school program than any state in America.
The zeal by Wisconsin Republicans to destroy the quality of public education also has destroyed the career potential of at least 90% of Wisconsin’s teachers. In over 90% of Wisconsin school districts, the average teacher salary has increased FAR below the inflation rate since 2011. In the vast majority of Wisconsin school districts, being a teacher is a DEAD END job.
For teachers who pursue a career in Wisconsin, the highest “real” salary of your career will be your first year salary. In order to staff classrooms, most districts pay between $40,000 and $45,000 for brand new teachers. If you remain teaching in Wisconsin, it will take you 10-15 years to earn $50,000 per year, and you will likely never earn more than $60,000-$65,000 after a 35 year career.
We found that many districts will lure new teachers in by showing maximum salaries of $70,000-$90,000 in their job listings posted on WECAN. Those $70,000+ salaries are the salaries of the 5-10% of their most experienced teachers, salaries earned by teachers in 2011 that are still teaching today. Most of those high salary teachers have had minimal raises since 2011.
Teachers hired since 2011 will NEVER achieve those high salaries due to the defunding of public schools by the Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin. Wisconsin teachers who want to own a middle class home, raise a family or send their children to college have to work at least 2 jobs in addition to their 70+ hour per week teaching job.
We don’t think that’s a good way to live, which is why we strongly encourage new graduates, and teachers with less than 20 years of Wisconsin teaching experience to leave Wisconsin for the MUCH better pay and benefits offered throughout America, especially in our neighboring states of Illinois and Minnesota.
By comparison, there are many Minnesota and Illinois school districts where teachers are able to earn $70,000 salaries by their 10th year of teaching, and top out at over $100,000 in today’s dollars. Unlike Wisconsin, Minnesota & Illinois invest in their public schools, not in a "shadow" school system that is free to select or reject their student population.
On our website, we listed the average teacher salary data for every Minnesota school district. These districts LOVE to hire talented Wisconsin special education, science, math, CTE, teachers looking to improve their lives by making a “change of STATE”.
Here’s some of the information our website contains:
Location:
A quick map of the location of every Wisconsin public school district
Voting Record by County:
Many of the worst places to teach are those with majority MAGA voters who were also strong supporters of former Governor Scott Walker’s Act 10 which decimated 50 years of improvement to teacher working conditions, pay, and benefits. With few exceptions, where they vote MAGA, most districts offer little more than dead end teaching jobs.
Change in Average Teaching Salary:
In our neighboring states of Minnesota & Illinois that are not controlled by a Republican Dictatorship bent on destroying quality public education, through a combination of experience and continuing education teachers are able to increase their salaries above the inflation rate until reaching the negotiated maximum salaries in the clear and objective salary system.
Unlike post 2011 Wisconsin, in Illinois & Minnesota, ALL teachers are able to attain the maximum salaries in the career salary system. Unlike post 2011 Wisconsin, teachers know exactly what they need to do in order to advance in their careers. Compare the percentage change in Average Teacher salaries for Wisconsin school districts with Minnesota school districts.
Notice how nearly every Minnesota school district has a percentage change higher than the inflation rate. That’s what happens when your state isn’t controlled by a Republican Dictatorship hellbent on destroying quality public education by cutting over 4 BILLION dollars in public school aid and using that money to finance lavish tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Wisconsinites and massive tax cuts for the largest corporations in Wisconsin.
Except in rare cases, when the percentage increase in average teacher salaries is less than about 18% (inflation rate was 26.3%), we rate teaching in these districts as a low paying Dead End job. We think prospective teachers should know the salary history of every Wisconsin school district so as not to waste time applying for employment in districts that pay teachers so little that many teachers qualify for state and federal anti-poverty programs.
Change in Superintendent Salary
Through our research, we’ve found that you can tell a LOT about a district by comparing how the School Board treats it’s teachers salary-wise in comparison to how the Superintendent is treated. We have found that many of the best districts to teach in are those that treat their teachers and Superintendent relatively equal. Conversely, many of the districts where teacher salaries have either DECREASED since 2011 or increased at 10% or less, the School Boards in those districts have LAVISHED huge raises on the Superintendent position. One Superintendent was given raises that were 654 TIMES the raise in average teacher salaries!!
We have found that there is an excellent correlation between horrible working conditions and districts where the Superintendent raises were far above the teacher raises.
Just something to keep in mind as you decide which district(s) to consider working for next year.
Money Stolen From This District’s Taxpayers to Fund Voucher Schools
The Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin requires taxpayers in nearly every public school district in Wisconsin to pay for the voucher school program. Though the data is difficult to access, we think that this is a critical piece of information about a school district.
For instance, with the over 4 billion dollar cuts to school districts across Wisconsin since 2011, many districts are having to go to referendum to win taxpayer approval for Operational Referendums just to keep the doors open.
In April 2024, South Milwaukee voters approved raising their taxes by 10 million dollars over the next 5 years in order to keep the schools running and not have to cut programs and terminate teachers. Each year, just over 1 million taxpayer dollars collected for operation of the South Milwaukee schools are STOLEN by the Republican Dictatorship and instead spent on the voucher choice schools across Wisconsin.
If the Republican Dictatorship would stop forcing public schools to subsidize private school vouchers, that South Milwaukee Operational Referendum would have been for 5 million dollars or not even needed if Republicans would fund special education programs at 90% for public schools JUST LIKE THEY DO FOR PRIVATE VOUCHER SCHOOLS.
April 2024 Referendum Results
Our final addition to the website before publishing are the results of the April 2024 school district referendums. Many referendums faced withering opposition from organized groups often associated with the Republican Party. In addition to driving down the quality of Wisconsin’s once #1 in America public schools by making the largest state aid cuts in America since 2011, in 2024 it seems that the Wisconsin Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin is opening up new fronts to hurt public education and the teachers who work in these schools.
In nearly every school district with organized referendum opposition, the message was the same, “Make the teachers pay for it by slashing their salaries, eliminating their benefits, and firing at least 10% of the highest paid teachers”. We urge prospective teachers to be extremely wary about signing a contract to teach in a district where the local residents aren’t supportive of their school district.
We hope the information on our website will be useful in deciding which Wisconsin school district is worthy of your signature on a teaching contract, or whether a “change of STATE” would be the best choice for the best teaching career possible.
We sure enjoyed our years in Wisconsin classrooms, now it’s your turn to have an awesome teaching career; if not in Wisconsin, in a state where your talents will be appreciated.
~The Teaching in Wisconsin Team