As the Madison School District proposes freezing wages at current levels for the next school year, hundreds of teachers and staff took to the streets to rally for their requested pay increase and smaller class sizes Monday night.
Representing about 2,700 district employees, Madison Teachers Inc. is asking for a 4.12% pay increase, the maximum increase allowed by state law. More than 200 teachers and staff marched around the Doyle Administration Building on Dayton Street ahead of the School Board meeting.
Teachers also delivered a petition with 2,000 signatures to the board that calls for increased staff allocations and smaller class sizes. They presented the signatures on pieces of paper representing each school, receiving applause and cheers from the teachers filling the seats and aisles of the building's auditorium.
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"I went to school to teach kids, today it feels like I go to school ready for battle," bilingual special education teacher Michele Ritt said Monday. "The number of hats we all wear now is staggering. If we were not superheroes, there's no way it could be done."
Since Wisconsin’s Act 10 was passed in 2011, teacher unions can only bargain over their base wages, not over other compensation elements, such as bonuses or the valuation of their benefits.
MTI President Mike Jones said anything less than a 4.12% increase is effectively a pay cut for teachers.
"Inflation hits all of us because we're all paying taxes. We're all paying for gas, and food and bills," Jones said.
The requested pay increase, however, would cost the district nearly $13.3 million, district spokesperson Ian Folger said.
The district already faces a $12.4 million shortfall next school year. The last of the pandemic relief funding, about $40 million, is expiring, and funding approved by voters in 2020 capital and operating referendums is ending.
The School Board has met several times in closed session to discuss employment contracts, but has not publicly discussed salaries since the initial exchange of proposals in March.
"There hasn't been any substantial movement on paper," Jones said. "We had a bargaining session last week and I thought it was very respectable and there's definitely engagement. It's definitely not out of district administration disinterest that we're not getting anywhere."
The first draft of the district's 2024-25 budget should be made publicly available on May 13. The School Board will vote on a preliminary version in June and a final budget in October, after enrollment numbers are confirmed.
In June, the School Board also will decide whether to add referendum questions to the November ballot to help remedy its budget hole. If the district moves forward with referendums and voters approve the measures, local property taxes will increase beyond the levy limits set by the state.
In 2023, MTI and employees agreed to an 8% wage increase. The district initially offered 3.5%. The district gave employees a 3% base wage increase in 2022. Actual raises vary depending on level of education and years of experience.