CHOICES: MILWAUKEE TEACHERS DIDN'T CHOOSE WELL

Choices: Milwaukee Teachers Could have Saved City Schools and themselves

http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/choices-milwaukee-teachers-could-have-saved-city-schools-themselves
Wisconsin Reporter – M. D. Kittle – 6/18/2012

Life is all about choices, and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association opted to reject concessions and keep what it had earned through its 2010 negotiations with the district.

Beginning in July 2013, however, if the law that redefined public-sector collective bargaining in Wisconsin holds, Milwaukee’s teachers will be operating under a new system, and the district and its taxpayers are expected to see pronounced savings.

In April, the MTEA overwhelmingly rejected a plan that asked teachers to give back five day’s pay to help the school system reduce the size of its overcrowded classrooms.

Of 3,931 members to vote, 2,296 opposed the measure.

In essence, the teachers would have given up much of their 3-percent raise in the coming school year. MPS has estimated that average teacher base salary next year will be around $62,800.

Educators, on average, would have given back about $1,600 to the district.

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