District Info
Career Prospect: 
Dead End Job

Manitowoc County

County Seat: 
Manitowoc
WCA District: 
East Central

Teachers are truly the nicest, kindest people in the world; generous to a fault looking to improve their students’ lives, often at the expense of their own lives and their families. For these truly wonderful people, accepting a teaching position in a county filled with MAGA cult members is a major culture shock.

We created this website to tell the stories of the many ways that Act 10 upended teachers’ lives and careers since 2011. These are stories that the Mainstream Media Bosses have intentionally ignored. Wisconsin’s Mainstream Media has supported the Republican Dictatorship that has ruled Wisconsin since 2011 through active suppression of reporting on how Act 10 decimated 50 years of improvements in teachers’ lives and working conditions. The Mainstream Media has endorsed many Republican politicians that keep the Wisconsin Republican Dictatorship alive and well.

Teaching and living in this county requires one to be comfortable with being treated as a second class citizen at best, and more likely shunned as a pariah by the majority of your neighbors. Many of your neighbors will be angry Trump-worshipping bullies who are still pissed at teachers for the closing of schools for 2 months at the beginning of the pandemic  Most of your neighbors give 100% support to Republican candidates who have worked to defund public education and punish teachers for making kids wear masks when in-person classes resumed.  

Before the majority of your neighbors in this county joined the Trump cult, they were “Standing With Walker” to smack teachers around from 2011 to 2018. Due to Act 10 wiping out 50 years of improvement in teacher working conditions and employment protections, thousands of teachers in counties across Wisconsin lost their jobs and careers.

Most of your neighbors will be MAGA Republicans who are strong supporters of the Wisconsin Republican Dictatorship that slashed over 4 BILLION dollars in state aid to public schools since 2011-the largest cuts to public schools in America, while giving the largest state tax dollar funding increases in America to private and religious schools that carefully select and retain their students in order to keep the “more costly to educate” (handicapped & disabled) students out.

Wisconsin is the only state in America without tenure or collective bargaining protections keeping teachers from being unjustly terminated or non-renewed. Since 2011, hundreds of teachers in Republican controlled Wisconsin counties have been non-renewed or terminated as retribution for signing a petition to recall Governor Walker, or making a Facebook post or posting a lawn sign supporting a Democratic candidate. 

Before you accept one of the thousands of open teaching positions in Wisconsin, we hope that you will give careful consideration to leaving Wisconsin for numerous other places in America(like our neighbors in Minnesota & Illinois) that appreciate and welcome high quality teachers to become productive residents of their state and boost their states’ economies far ahead of Wisconsin’s stagnant economic growth since Act 10 was imposed in 2011 by the Republican Dictatorship that still rules Wisconsin.

Since 2011, thousands of great teachers and administrators have enjoyed significant career advancement by leaving Wisconsin. We think that you will too.

Political Environment
2016 Election: 
58% Trump
2018 Election: 
60% Walker
2020 Election: 
61% Trump
COVID Rate: 
56% Fully Vaccinated
Money Stolen From This District's Taxpayers to Fund School Vouchers Across Wisconsin
Latest Available Data: 2022-23 School Year: 
$2,502,571
The Republican Dictatorship that rules 'Wisconsin has underfunded public schools since 2011 while giving the largest funding increases in America to private & parochial voucher schools.
Average Teacher Salaries
2010-2011 Average Salary: 
$55,533
2022-23 Projected Salary at 26.3% Inflation Rate: 
$70,138
2022-23 Average Salary: 
$64,323
Average Teacher Salary Performance
WERC Inflation Rate Since July 2011 : 
26.3
Real Salary Change: 
15.8%
2022-23 Purchasing Power Change : 
$-5,815

This school district is located in Manitowoc County. By a strong majority, the residents of this county are strong Trump supporters, and spent 2012-2018 Standing With Walker. Not surprisingly, public education in this county suffers from a lack of support from many county residents who are strong MAGA supporters.

Since the MAGA Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin enacted Act 10 in 2011, teachers in  every school district in this county have suffered significant salary and benefit cuts imposed by MAGA-controlled school boards. 

Average teacher pay in this county ranges from $53,585 to 64,323. The Manitowoc school district average teacher salary was the highest in this county at $64,343.  The increase in average teacher salary since 2011  was 15.8%, which was below the inflation rate.

In spring 2022, the Manitowoc school board was targeted for takeover by a MAGA Republican candidate slate. Running on a platform that demonized teachers for making kids wear masks and closing schools during the Covid epidemic, the spring school board elections were extremely divisive and degraded support for public schools. The 3 MAGA candidates who relentlessly criticized teachers won election to the School Board in a landslide. 

Since 2022, there has been an exodus of veteran teachers out of the Manitowoc school district.  So many teachers left immediately following the MAGA school board takeover that the Manitowoc school district had to offer $5000 hiring bonuses in August 2022 to fully staff the schools. 

Under firm control of a majority MAGA school board, the Manitowoc school district remains a frequent flier on WECAN, seemingly looking for replacement teachers throughout the year.

The MAGA controlled Manitowoc school board prioritized keeping the Superintendent VERY HAPPY by increasing Superintendent pay by 53% since July 2011, which was over THREE times the increase in average teacher salaries. 

With everything going on in the Manitowoc school district, we rate the career potential as a DEAD END job.

March 2024 Update:  To better understand that EXTREME political divisions on the Manitowoc School Board that you will endure if you accept a teaching position in this district, here is an article comparing the views of 4 candidates running for 2 School Board positions. Stacy Soeldner is allied with the extreme right wing of the school board and is heavily favored to win re-election in this majority MAGA Republican community. Note that one candidate shares that in the last 2 years, 208 teachers have quit or retired from the Manitowoc Public School District-which is why WECAN is filled with job postings from this district. 

https://www.htrnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/26/manitow...

Estimated Average Teacher Income Loss Since 2011 From Act 10
$107,652

The Republican Dictatorship that has Ruled Wisconsin Since 2011 has underfunded public schools by over 4 Billion dollars in order to provide massive tax cuts to the wealthiest individual taxpayers and big business and manufacturers by severely reducing teacher salaries & benefits.

Superintendent Earnings
2010-2011 Superintendent Salary: 
$117,625
2022-23 Projected Salary at 26.3% Inflation Rate : 
$148,560
2022-23 Superintendent Salary: 
$180,000
Superintendent Salary Performance
WERC Inflation Rate Since July 2011 : 
26.3
Real Salary Change: 
53.0%
2022-23 Purchasing Power Change: 
$31,440

This is one example of how MAGA Republican community members in the Manitowoc school district attack school board candidates that they do not like:

Ten Year Teacher Salaries
Median 2020-2021 First Year Teacher Salary: 
$47,189
Projected Ten Year Salary in 2020-21: 
$59,600
Ten Year Teacher Salary Performance
10 Year WERC Inflation Rate: 
26.3
Real Salary Change : 
0.0%
Real Purchasing Power Change*: 
$0

Inside Story From 2022:

Further Information We Feel Prospective Teachers Should Know Before Accepting a Teaching Position in the Manitowoc Public Schools

Any teacher considering accepting employment in the Manitowoc school district should educate themselves on the political climate inside the Manitowoc Public school district. We feel that the Manitowoc community is an extremely divided community over the management of the school district. The extreme division of the community has resulted in a cascade of hatred from Pro-Trump right wingers directed towards all associated with the Manitowoc schools, especially the Superintendent, the School Board, and the teachers over policies requiring students to wear masks during the depths of the Covid pandemic, and accusations that Critical Race Theory was being taught across the Manitowoc schools' curriculum. 

On April 5, 2022, voters elected a slate of extremely conservative school board candidates who have promised to completely reverse the direction of the Manitowoc schools. Like most of the past 2 years, the election was extremely divisive in the community, with supporters of the incumbent school board members receiving written threats of physical harm and violence if they didn't remove campaign signs from their yards.  In this heavily Republican voting district, voters elected one candidate who proudly proclaimed his participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington DC to overturn the 2020 election. 

 

Planning on Returning to Teach in this District Next Year?

Have All Teachers Received CPI Pay Increases the Past 2 Years?  

2023 CPI was 8.00%  

2024 CPI was 4.12%

No???

Sick of the School Board Lavishing Big Raises on the Superintendent While Screwing Teachers?

Time to Send a Message to the School Board.....

Without a Guarantee of a BIG RAISE for signing your contract for the 2024-25 SY,

Make your School District WAIT until the week of June 12th to return your contract.

All contracts due by Saturday June 15th.

This is one of over 200 Wisconsin school districts  have SCREWED teachers (50,000+) since 2011 while giving MASSIVE pay raises to the Superintendent.  

Make your District value YOUR RETURN for next year as much as they value the Superintendent

Unless they offer at least a CPI raise for all teachers,

Hold off on returning your signed contract until June 12-14th.