Study says Act 10 hasn’t had negative impact, though schools would disagree

Twelve teachers from West Salem
retired after law was passed

Act 10 is still having repercussions in Wisconsin, five years after its inception.

A study, however, indicates the law didn’t have the negative impact on Wisconsin some people projected, after it caused several recall elections, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

After the law, cutting back on post-retirement benefits saw 12 teachers from West Salem schools retire, said superintendent Troy Gunderson. That, put them them in the hole right off the bat, he added.

Gunderson said local districts were left to pick up the pieces, despite the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty’s study saying it didn’t have much of an impact on the new marketplace for teachers.

“You’re running an organization where every one of your employees took a pretty dramatic cut in wages,” Gunderson said. “What falls upon the school district is to be the kind of employer where people want to go. 

“You want happy and pleasant people teaching children in an elementary school, not angry, militant, frustrated people.”

Act 10 significantly reduced the collective bargaining rights of Unions, which included teachers. Gunderson said administration was stuck in the middle of the fight between Madison and Unions, and morale and trust suffered because of it.

Even now, choices made in Madison are hurting the future of the profession, Gunderson believes.

“I don’t think what’s going on down there is helpful at this point,” Gunderson said. “There are a lot of forces at work that envision a world where school is no longer a public service.”

Gunderson says there is far too much unknown in the education profession, which is causing college students to look at different career paths.

From the study itself: The study’s main analysis features a “differences in differences” approach that compares education workforce data in Wisconsin with surrounding states – Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan – to determine whether the teacher workforce is affected by Act 10 or national trends.

Some of the findings include: 

• When compared to neighboring states, Act 10 had no significant impact on the number of students per school teacher.  Put another way, changes in classroom size did not differ significantly from changes in neighboring states.

• When compared to surrounding states, we did not find any significant effect by Act 10 on school district spending on teacher gross salaries (incl. bonuses, some pay for performance, and stipends).  We did find an effect by Act 10 on base salaries.  We suspect that this reflects the new marketplace for teachers post-Act 10 where districts are moving towards pay-for-performance, bonuses, and stipends, as described in a previous WILL study.

• There was little difference in the change in average teacher experience before and after Act 10.

• There was little difference in the change in racial makeup of the teaching workforce before and after Act 10.

• Wisconsin’s teacher decline began well before the implementation of Act 10.