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The Making of Our Wisconsin Schools
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Professional Development
Origin of the WEA
The Wisconsin Teachers Association had its beginning at a small “round table gathering” at Madison in July of 1853. At that time, eight Wisconsin men met and drafted a constitution by which they organized themselves into the Wisconsin Teachers Association. Membership in the organization was limited to those actively engaged in teaching in Wisconsin schools, but outsiders were permitted to become honorary members without voting powers. At the first meeting, nine honorary members were chosen, one of them being the state superintendent of public instruction.
Although the founders were intensely professional and sought to improve education, many teachers were surprisingly indifferent to the work of the association. A report by J.L. Pickard on the association’s second meeting in Madison, August 9, 1854, said:
“So little interest was felt, by either the teachers of the state or the citizens of Madison, that those who came to attend the association could find no one expecting them, nor that any provision has been made for even a place in which to hold their meeting... The records do not tell us how many were present, but, from the recollection of all those who can be found, we learn that there were but six or seven teachers, and eight or ten book agents at the opening of the session. And indeed it is not to be wondered at, for a teachers’ association could not be expected to be popular in a state in which our professional was so slightly esteemed.”
In spite of the indifference of the teachers to their profession, the confidence and determination of the founders is evidenced by their going before the Legislature of 1855 to secure a charter. Section 3 of that charter reads: “The purpose of said association shall be the mutual improvement of its members, and the promotion of popular education throughout the state.” Among other things, the charter prohibited the association from having assets in excess of $20,000.
With an attendance of 150 at the Racine meeting in 1856 in contrast to the seven who appeared at the Madison session the year before, gave encouragement to the founders of the organization. J.G. McMynn of Racine was a member of the original group at Madison that formed the organization and was president for the first three years.
Establishment of Journal
One important stroke of business at the Racine meeting was the association’s acceptance of the offer of James Sutherland of Janesville, who had published the Wisconsin Educational Journal and who was willing to transfer ownership to the state body of teachers. The publication was renamed the Wisconsin Journal of Education, and John G. McMynn was named “resident editor.”
The eighth annual meeting in Milwaukee in 1860 marked the end of the pioneer period in the history of the Wisconsin Teachers Association. During the Civil War, the association had to suspend publication of the journal because of the lack of financial support from the legislature. For several years, grants had been made by the legislature as the journal was known as the official organ of the state department of public education. Although the summer meetings were held during the period of strife without the means of communication, the association exerted little influence in educational matters of importance in the state.
Change in Emphasis
The two-fold purpose stated in the charter was not realized until after 1873. Prior to that time the association’s meetings were confined to classroom problems and with no influence on the educational policies of the state. Teaching methods and practices monopolized the convention’s entire program, to the total exclusion of speeches on administration, educational philosophy, and economic and social issues outside the classroom. Today we find such subjects closely connected to the classroom. It was not until the convention of 1873 that a report was made on the necessary revisions of the school laws.
The practice of considering classroom problems exclusively led to a winter meeting of 1867 to discuss questions of state policies concerning compulsory school attendance, teachers’ institutes, normal schools, education of the handicapped, and school supervision. After 1873, the winter sessions became annual affairs and were a contrast to summer meetings which dealt with classroom problems and devoted considerable time to entertainment features.
Sectional Associations
In 1889 the association’s meeting was held in Waukesha, and a complete reorganization was affected. In place of the statewide summer meeting, district associations were formed. The Southeastern and the Southwestern associations were organized at the time and were followed later by similar groups in the Northeast and Northwest. These sectional associations met in the summer, while the general meeting was held in the winter. General programs presented distinguished speakers who discussed topics of interest. Topics on methods did not disappear, but the stress of the meeting remained upon questions of educational policy.
Demand for Reorganization
During the later half of the century, the association played an important part in the development of the course of study, the establishment of summer schools, state aid, minimum teaching standards, and many educational matters.
Membership in the association continued to grow as the number of teachers increased and the influence of the association became more widely felt. By 1919, the organization which had a membership of five to seven thousand had “become a mob rather than an effective working unit.” Complaint arose that the activities of the association were in control of the administrators and those “so-called high-up” in the educational work. Through a mass movement of teachers in the sectional association, demands increased that the association be administered on the basis of professional democracy. Furthermore, with the popular election of officers, control remained largely in the Milwaukee area, where larger percentages of the teachers were in attendance at the convention.
For two years, special committees worked on plans for reorganization which were debated at the annual sessions of the association. It was not until 1921, however, that final action on the proposals which made sweeping changes in the functioning of the organization was taken.
New Plan
Under the new plan the state was divided into units bounded by county or city limits or both as seemed most feasible. The Representative Assembly was composed of delegates elected from units, one delegate for every fifty teachers or major fraction thereof. These delegates were to meet at the time and city of the general session of the association and transact the business of the association including the election of officers.
At the November 1922 meeting, officers were elected under the new constitution and on January 1, 1923, the Representative Assembly came into legal existence and began to administer the business affairs and direct the professional policies of the teachers of the state. On that same date, the Wisconsin Teachers Association established a permanent office with a full-time Secretary who was to edit the official organ and to execute the policies of the association. One of the first acts of the newly formed Executive Committee was to take over the Wisconsin Journal of Education, beginning with the September issue. Control of the teachers’ publication had alternated between the state department and association until 1899 when it was sold to private individuals. The journal continued under private ownership and management until September 1923. At the same time, the Association voted to withdraw from state aid of $1,000 annually believing that they could “better conduct their affairs themselves than to run all accounts through the state treasurer.”
The Journal of Education of March 1923 carries this significant statement: “There are three main activities which the Wisconsin association is pledged to carry on - the enactment into law of those principles which the profession recognizes as fundamental; informing the people as to the needs of the association through the publicity campaign; and the publication of the state journal which will be a source of information about schools and educational affairs. The success of the association will be measured by its influence upon these agencies - legislation, publicity, and professional unity. The organized teachers of the state may educate the people as well as the children in the schools.”
Renaming of Organization
The Wisconsin Teachers Association continued to exert a greater influence in forming education policies in the state and in improving the profession. In 1935, just eighty years after the granting of the first charter by the Wisconsin legislature, the association officials secured a revision of the law permitting the organization to be called the Wisconsin Education Association.
The November 1943 convention marks the latest change in the constitution of the association. Prior to this revision the Executive Committee was composed of some of the elected officers and six members elected at large - three of whom were women and three men. The 1943 revision divided the state into districts each containing as nearly as possible an equal number of teachers. The delegates from the districts now each elect their own member to the Executive Committee.
The Wisconsin Teachers Association which began in 1853 with a membership of eight has grown in size and influence until it now has a membership of over 21,000, many statewide committees continuously working for the interests of education and the profession, and a full-time staff of employees.
One of the great contributions of the association has been the promotion and protection of a strong teacher retirement law.
Retirement Fund
Teachers’ pensions are of comparatively recent origin. Many voluntary associations of teachers which provided sick benefits were organized in the period between 1890 and 1900, and in Massachusetts there was a statewide association for the purpose of providing annuities. These systems were all on a voluntary basis, were small, and the members were largely drawn from the upper age group. No attention was paid to actuarial calculations, and no relationship between resources and obligations was determined, so they were doomed to insolvency.
The teachers of Milwaukee established a pension system in 1907. A large number of teachers in other cities determined to have some provision for their superannuated teachers and in 1911 succeeded in having the legislature establish a statewide Teachers Insurance and Retirement Fund which included all teachers outside of Milwaukee. It was voluntary, and only about half of the teachers, the older ones generally, became members. Payments ran from one-to-two percent of the teacher’s salary for 25 years and then stopped. After retirement an annuity of $12.50 for each year of service with a maximum of $450 annually was promised.
It was soon apparent that the law had many of the weaknesses of the purely voluntary system and was certain to become insolvent. The Legislature in 1919 authorized the appointment of a committee of five, with Senator Antone Kickuk of Shawano as chairman, to investigate and report to the 1921 session. This committee engaged Herman L. Ekern and Charles E. Brooks of Madison as counsel and began an exhaustive investigation which showed that the fund was totally inadequate and must either be abandoned or practically recreated.
The greatest value of the report was the outlining of a sound and adequate system based upon the experience of reserve life insurance companies. After much discussion and many adjustments in the original recommendations, the Retirement Law was passed by the 1921 Legislature. This law made it obligatory for all public school teachers outside of Milwaukee to become members. University faculty members, not under the Carnegie Fund, normal school teachers, and administrative officers were included in the system.
For many years the plan was subjected to all sorts of misrepresentation and legislative attacks. In 1925 the Senate passed a bill to repeal the Fund, but a united campaign by the teachers overwhelmingly defeated it in the Assembly. Later attacks were also defeated, and for several years it has been accepted as a fundamental part of the school system. The Legislature of 1947 increased teachers’ contributions from five to six percent and increased the retirement allowances in certain cases.
The law has been honestly and efficiently administered and stands high in public estimation. On June 30, 1947, the Fund had assets of $87,500,000. There were 19,000 teacher members of the Fund. Their contributions for the school year of 1946-47 amounted to $2,213,800. To meet its obligation, the state contributed $2,630,000 or 118.8 percent of the amount deposited by the teachers. The state has kept faith with the teachers.
Posted March 6, 1998
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