When Scott Walker and the Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature rammed Act 10 down our throats in the dark of night in January 2010, it was not through the usual and customary legislative process traditionally used in this state. It was a mean-spirited campaign to smear teachers and other professionals as overpaid union thugs whose benefits were bleeding the state dry. As a teacher, I felt disrespected and under-appreciated by Republican politicians and the people who elected them. Two years later, I retired early, with my dignity and energy barely intact. And I wasn't the only teacher who felt that way. I have chickens, so I know first-hand what it means when they come home to roost. Well, the chickens have come home to roost here in Wisconsin: there is now a teacher shortage here in Wisconsin.
Today's Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel ran a front-page article, "Schools scrambling for teachers: Wisconsin districts are seeing fewer applicants." The problem is two-fold: more teachers are leaving the profession or retiring, and fewer people are entering the profession.
Why are teachers switching teaching jobs or professions and retiring early? Act 10 not only did away with existing union contracts but also allowed school districts to essentially freeze and/or diminish wages and benefits. At the same time, teachers were being told - not asked - to do extra work, including extracurricular duties, without being compensated. But without contracts, teachers are also now "free agents" who can seek jobs in wealthier, higher paying districts. Good, experienced teachers are taking advantage of that and are resigning positions at the last minute to work in other districts. The lower wages and poor morale have also served as an impetus to get out of the teaching profession altogether and find a job in the private sector.
I was close to retirement anyway, and when conditions in the state deteriorated, I chose to get out of teaching. It was a hard decision because I loved teaching and the kids, and was pretty darn good at it! But I couldn't take the negativity and stress any longer. Friends of mine, even in wealthy districts, were asked to retire so younger, cheaper teachers could take their places. Willingly or unwillingly, committed and experienced baby boomer teachers are retiring in droves.
And at the same time, fewer people are becoming teachers. The two largest schools of education in the Milwaukee area both report a drop in enrollment. Marquette University's enrollment dropped from 445 students in 2010 to 385 in 2014. Bill Henk, the dean of Marquette's College of Education, called the drop after 2010 "precedent setting." The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has seen its School of Education enrollment drop from 2,135 in 2010 to 1,516 in 2014. In other words, several hundred fewer teachers are being trained in the most populated area of the state.
Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said,
"I think there's agreement that interest in teaching has been declining for a decade or so, but has dropped more in the past three years."
Past three years? That would be since the full impact of Act 10 hit teachers and schools the hardest. And now district administrators and human resources directors across the state are finding the pool of candidates for teaching positions to be unexpectedly small. Charles Poches, superintendent of the Portage Community School District, said,
"I never would have expected this summer to be this bad."
Kristin Gurtner, human resources director of the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District reported "shallow or non-existent" pools of candidates for many positions, not just in special education and the sciences, as has been true in the past. Henk adds that there are even shortages of English and social studies teachers, something unheard of in the past.
And how are Walker and the Republicans handling this? By cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from public school and University of Wisconsin budgets. By increasing the number of vouchers so that families can take tax money out of public schools and give it to private schools, most of which are religious schools. By continuing to boast, as Walker does, about how he broke up the unions and faced down the protesters; therefore, he is qualified to deal with ISIS/ISIL.
Oh, and news flash: Walker wasn't even in Madison during the weekend and evening protests. He likes to give the impression that he was standing on the steps of the Capitol personally taking on the protesters. He went home to Wauwatosa almost every night and weekend, driven in a darkened SUV with full security detail, and wasn't anywhere near the protests. Unintimidated. Ha!
But I do digress. The chickens have indeed come home to roost. Wisconsin is now on the verge of not having enough qualified teachers to educate its students. Parents in Wisconsin, why are you allowing this to happen to your children? Republican voters in Iowa and elsewhere, do you really think Walker will NOT do this to the rest of the country if elected? Have we become so anti-education in this country that most people just don't care anymore about kids in schools? I'd like to be optimistic, but it's difficult when faced with Republican ambivalence and disrespect day-in and day-out. It's sad, but it makes retirement look pretty darn good.