1. Analyze your salary growth potential for the first ten years of work.
To find out your income growth potential, you will need to check out the historical data for this district. For our example, we will use the Baraboo School district. We rated this district as a Dead End district due to it’s 9.2% increase in Average Teacher salaries since 2011, compared to the over 53% salary increase lavished on the Superintendent position. (That extreme difference right there raises all kinds of red flags as to the priorities of the Baraboo School Board!) Not surprisingly, the Baraboo school district is a frequent flier on WECAN with numerous vacant positions posted throughout the year.
- 1st Step: Go to this website https://publicstaffreports.dpi.wi.gov/PubStaffReport/Public/PublicReport...
- to get the salary data for every Baraboo school district employee
- 2nd Step: Enter Baraboo into the Search box. Enter Year 2022-2023. Search. Then Download the results.
- 3rd Step: Click Yes to the Pop Up box and then open the spreadsheet.
- 4th Step: Scroll over to Column K. Select K column and Sort A-Z. Extend the selection.
- 5th Step: Now Evaluate the Teacher Salary Data. Teachers will have 190 day contracts in Baraboo and most Wisconsin districts, though there are some Wisconsin districts where the school board added up to 10 days to the contracted teaching days with no increase in salary.
- 6th Step: K column is the years of Baraboo experience, L column is the total years of experience. A new hire just out of college will be 1/1 in columns K & L. Note the large number of new hires in Baraboo. This is another Red Flag that this is a high turnover district. Why are so many teachers fleeing this district? Note that there are 4 distinct salary levels for 1st year teachers; $41,000, $42,000, $45,000, and $48,000. Scroll to the right and see the job assignments for these teachers-elementary, middle, and HS subject area. There’s no discernible teaching assignment to salary level pattern. Likely the early hires were the lower salaries while the summer hires commanded higher salaries. (This is why you should always keep looking, even if you sign a contract in March or April-that contract can be broken with no penalty up to June 14th).
- 7th Step: Now scroll down the K and L columns, all the way to 10/10 teachers. Note the HUGE number of teachers with 5 years or less experience. Why are so many teachers fleeing Baraboo? The salary numbers tell the story. Note the large number of teachers with 2-7 years of experience that earned LESS than brand new 1st year teachers!!! Why would anyone stay in a district that values BRAND NEW hires more than experienced teachers? Look at the small number of teachers with 10 years of experience. Note that there are some 10 year veteran teachers making the same as BRAND NEW hires!!!
2. Compare the % Increase in Average Teacher Salary to the Superintendent Salary.
It has been our experience that when these percentages are horribly out of balance in favor of the Superintendent, that the working conditions in this district are absolutely terrible. For Baraboo, the ratio is 9.2% to 53.4%. We would expect that the same disrespect towards teachers extends to crushing workload expectations, minimal administrative support, severe benefit cuts, etc…
3. What are the Contract Break Fee Amounts?
Especially in high turnover districts and/or districts with crushing workload expectations, we have seen a steady increase in the amount of money that must be paid by a teacher to quit their jobs; either to teach in another district or to leave teaching entirely. These fees “kick in” on June 16th each summer. In the last 5 years, we have seen some school boards increase the “break fee” to $10,000 or more during the school year. Good districts to work in generally have break fees of $1000 or less. If the district you are considering working for has a contract break fee of $5,000-$20,000, they’re trying to stem the outflow of a lot of teachers who cannot stand working there. Be extremely wary about accepting employment with these districts.
4. What does the Benefit Package (insurance, sick days, etc…) look like?
New teachers get just about every bug that comes along, so you will be needing some sick days. Generally you should expect most districts to have between 8-10 sick days per year.
For health insurance, we observe that most plans for single teachers have yearly deductibles of $500-$1500, with an annual maximum expense (Stop Loss) of Double the Deductible for network providers. Beware of accepting employment in districts with crap health insurance coverage that will cost you thousands of dollars out of pocket. Better employment choices exist.
5. What is the Teaching Workload? Is there Required Summer/Holiday Work?
This is another place where the 4 BILLION dollars in cuts to state school aid by the Republican Dictatorship that rules Wisconsin really have impacted teachers. Many high schools have transitioned from a 7 or 8 period day where teachers taught 5 classes per year to the Block Schedule where teachers teach 6 classes per year. (3 each semester, with 1 block of prep time).
Some districts force teachers to teach every block, with assigned office hours evenings, or on weekends. (with no additional pay). Same with the middle and elementary levels where Art, Phy Ed and other specials are increasingly being taught by the classroom teachers. Even when scheduled for Prep Time, many districts pay $100 per day or less for substitutes leading to no substitutes and teachers always required to sub for sick colleagues (again, for no additional pay)
Some districts also require mandatory summer curriculum work or professional learning committee meetings of up to 80 hours (2 weeks) per year. All uncompensated time in addition to teaching duties during the contracted school year. Spending July traveling with your family could require you to spend most of your Saturdays working on curriculum during the school year. Be very wary of accepting employment with districts that require a significant workload above the normal teaching load.