Sue Ann Thompson Says QEO Unfair

Wisconsin First Lady Sue Ann Thompson said Monday (April 13, 1998) the Qualified Economic Offer law is unfair because it singles out one profession -- teachers -- for salary restrictions.

Mrs. Thompson, a teacher in the Elroy-Kendall-Wilton school system, told a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism class: "I've never been in favor of that, never agreed with that. I don't think it's fair to cap one segment's salary."

Mrs. Thompson's statements were made to UW students in an interview in the governor's mansion. They were reported Tuesday in a front-page Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article written by staff writer Steven Walters.

It quotes Mrs. Thompson as saying: "It isn't that he (the governor) doesn't think we (teachers) shouldn't make more money. That's not it. It's the idea of how (and) where the funds are coming from, and then it goes back to the taxpayer. That's the problem. Until that's changed, it probably will continue as it is."

On a related topic, she said it frustrates her and other rural teachers that teacher salaries are higher in larger, urban districts.

"There's such a disparity between salaries across the state," she said. "We all teach the same curriculum ... I teach the same things in sixth grade in Kendall as they teach in Madison (and) Milwaukee. Why shouldn't I be receiving the same remuneration?

"They're going to have to find another way to pay teachers."

Posted April 14, 1998