Recently Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers stated,
We must … recognize that part of supporting our kids in the classroom means supporting the educators who teach our kids. Wisconsin pays our public school teachers less than the national average, which makes it harder to recruit and retain talented educators. According to recently-released data, Wisconsin has fallen to 33rd in the nation for average teacher pay. Teacher salaries in our state are some of the lowest in the Midwest. Teachers moving across the border to Illinois or Michigan can see pay bumps of $10,000 or more….. That’s just not good enough folks.
That’s it? Salaries are bad. Really? And that’s why Wisconsin is not able to “recruit and retain” teachers? Pointing out that other states—with massive teacher recruitment and retention issues— pay more doesn’t seem like a positive strategy to address the real issues facing teachers in Wisconsin.
- What if he put collective bargaining back on the table?
- What if he demanded an end to high stakes testing?
- What if he dismantled Educator Effectiveness?
- What if he acknowledged that the state report card is a tool of shame?
- What if he valued the work of schools of education and stopped “alt” pathways into teaching?
- What if he gave back the federal charter school money?
- What if he actually stopped saying we have a teacher shortage and fully acknowledged the “X”odus of teachers from classrooms across the state of Wisconsin?
- Wouldn’t that be a great way to support our educators?
As I said in the title, I’m just asking for some teachers I know.
