Lincoln Hills Teacher Cutbacks Hurt Students

Administrators at the Lincoln Hills School in northern Wisconsin have responded to budget reductions by disproportionately cutting teaching positions, according to a leader of the state institution’s teachers’ association.

Ray Decker, who has taught at the juvenile correctional facility for more than five years, said cutting teaching positions over administrative positions has the greatest direct impact on the students. Fewer teachers means fewer education programs and longer teacher days, which can reduce the effectiveness of the program and lead to greater recidivism, he said.

“A large part of teaching is to connect with students, and the more teachers you have, the more potential to have that relationship.” --------------- Ray Decker

“All these guys (inmates) are marginal, so any decrease in the amount of time we can work with them, that’s going to make a difference,” said Decker, a grievance rep for WEAC Council #1, which represents the teachers at Lincoln Hills.

In September, Lincoln Hills administrators responded to budget cuts by laying off three teachers. That was on top of other cuts, which together have reduced the teaching staff there from 44 in 1998 to 26 now. Although the cuts were largely in response to a decline in the institution’s population, the teaching staff has been cut to a greater extent, Decker said.

The population is down partly due to a reduction in crime, partly to a trend of sending juveniles to adult court, and partly because of budget cuts. Counties that send boys to the school must pay for their incarceration. As a result of tight budgets at the local level, counties are making greater use of less-costly community-based programs, Decker said. The population at Lincoln Hills, located about 25 miles north of Wausau, was once as high as 380 and is now at about 250.

However, Decker questions the decision to keep mid-level management positions, such as five unit managers, while cutting teaching positions that most directly help the young men turn their lives around. Four of five assistant unit manager positions have been eliminated, but that’s not enough when teachers are being laid off, Decker said.

“The population hasn’t gone down as much as the education staff, and they have kept people on staff who we believe don’t help students,” he said. “Teachers, not managers, help reduce the recidivism rate.”

To help ease the impact of the staff cuts, teachers agreed to restructure and extend the school day, which added class periods (and teacher workload) but slightly decreased the average class size from about 12 to about 10 students. Decker said that is critical in a classroom of students who often have severe behavioral problems and special education needs.

“You couldn’t put more of these kids than that in a room and expect to deliver any quality education to them,” he said. “A large part of teaching is to connect with students, and the more teachers you have, the more potential to have that relationship.”

It’s not just important to the young men but to all of society, Decker said, because a troubled youth who becomes educated in prison is less likely to commit more crimes when he is released back into society.

The most recent teacher layoffs have cut the careers class back from once a day to once a week, Decker said. That class is a key part of the education program because it teaches students how to get a job and, more importantly, how to keep a job. Those are key skills that can keep a student from returning to prison.

Lincoln Hills never did have any frills educationally, Decker said, but students are now down to four basic courses: English, social studies, science and math. The previously separate health classes have now been folded into the science curriculum.

In the last two years, two vocational teachers were laid off and another one retired, leaving one wood shop teacher, with other courses taught through the local technical college. The teacher-librarian retired in 2001, so the library is now staffed by teachers when their classes go to the library.

“All extras have been discontinued,” Decker said. “For example, we used to have a sports/academics competition twice a year for students. This included traditional individual and team sports competition as well as poetry, speech, spelling, drawing and essay contests. Due to the budget crunch, these no longer take place because the budget won't allow for the payment of security staff overtime to stage the competitions.”

The recidivism rate for juveniles is about 40%, Decker said, but the school does have success with some students, and the goal is always to increase the success rate.

“It’s very rewarding when you see a kid turn himself around from a criminal lifestyle and apply himself and learn and – sometimes for the first time in his life – accomplish something,” Decker said, who spends part of his teaching time helping students earn a high school equivalency degree.

“To find that teacher who makes a difference for them is crucial.”

Decker said there is little that can be done about past decisions to cut teaching staff, but he and his colleagues are asking the Department of Corrections and Lincoln Hills administrators to spare teaching positions when making any future staff reductions.

“We ask that they look to save money in other places because teachers really do make a difference with these students,” he said.

Posted November 10, 2003