State-Employed Teachers Ask Thompson to Fulfill 10 Year Old Promise

Citing salaries that are 33% below their technical college counterparts, state-employed teachers are calling on Gov. Thompson to fulfill a promise he made in 1988 to address the disparities.

“The gap is causing problems for state institutions, schools and correctional facilities because they can’t recruit or retain qualified teachers,” said Mike Moore, director of the State Professional Education & Information Council (SPEIC/WEAC Council #1). SPEIC represents 750 members, including those employed in correctional facilities throughout the state.

“The numbers are outrageous, especially since our members have specialized skills,” he said, adding, “It’s a fact that education is the key to reducing recidivism.”

In the June 14, 1988, letter to Deputy Secretary Constance Beck of the Department of Employment Relations, Thompson wrote: “I strongly favor the principle that pay for state employees should be based on pay levels found in the labor market.

“I am asking that your department conduct a study of the compensation of state-employed teachers and initiate the appropriate action, based on that study, to ensure that the pay for state-employed teachers is consistent with pay for teachers in the external market.”

Since then, however, the gap has widened, Moore said.

“As of July, state-employed teachers’ salaries were 11.3% below K-12 public school salaries for the 1997-98 school year. But the gap widens dramatically when state employed teacher salaries are compared to technical college school salaries. They are behind by 33.3%.”

Also, he said, librarians at the state facilities start at $2 less an hour than their counterparts in the public and private sectors.

“Taycheedah Correctional Institute can’t find a librarian and they have a legal responsibility to have one on staff,” Moore said.

Now the facilities are hard-pressed to recruit and retain teachers.

“At the new correctional facility for serious juvenile offenders in Racine, we have 18 openings; at the Ethan Allen School for boys we have 12.5 openings. We have people leaving every day.

“We call on Gov. Thompson to address these disparities in his next budget so that taxpayers can be better served,” Moore said. “Keeping someone from going back to prison is the easiest way to reduce the prison population and ensure public safety. Education is the key.”

Posted December 17, 1998