By a 5-1 vote, the Madison School Board on Wednesday approved a 3% base wage increase for staff for the coming school year, two-thirds of what local teachers union Madison Teachers Inc. had asked for at the start of negotiations.
Board members Laura Simkin, Savion Castro, Chris Gomez-Schmidt, Nichelle Nichols and board Vice President Maia Pearson voted to approve the 3% increase, while board member Nicki Vander Meulen voted against the increase. Board President Ali Muldrow recused herself from the vote because her partner works for the district.
“Our teachers deserve 4.7%, nothing less,” Vander Meulen said. “Because I believe in our staff and I would like to keep our staff, I have to vote no.”
Simkin and Gomez-Schmidt said they are in favor of reopening negotiations if a surplus is discovered in the budget. Gomez-Schmidt pointed to the 0% increase in the revenue limit for public schools under the state’s current two-year budget as the main factor preventing the district from offering a higher increase.
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MTI president Mike Jones said he was disappointed in the decision, saying it could affect staffing and hiring for the coming school year.
“We’re going to be planning for a school year knowing we’re going to be down staffing-wise with no discernable plan by the district to increase hiring,” he said. “We’re going to have to make some tough decisions on our end.”
The district’s negotiating team told the union that a 3% wage increase for all staff was their final offer on June 10, and again on July 1, according to district documents.
MTI responded to both notices with proposals for ways the district could reach the 4.7% base wage increase and remain within the budget, which was passed by the School Board in June. But those proposals were met with silence from district administration, Jones said.
“Which is frustrating,” Jones said, adding, “4.7% we knew was going to be a challenge, but when you’re seeing all of the other districts around you and all of the urban districts in Wisconsin able to do it, it makes you wonder.”
The Milwaukee School Board unanimously approved a 4.7% base wage increase for all staff at the end of April, the largest increase in more than a decade for the district, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Kenosha and Green Bay school boards also unanimously approved a 4.7% base wage increase for staff in March for the coming school year. In January, the Oshkosh School District also approved a 4.7% wage increase for all staff.
In Dane County, the Marshall School District plans to give certified staff a 4.7% increase next school year, while McFarland will offer all staff a wage increase of roughly 6.1%. The Verona School District offered staff a 4.7% increase, but the increase is dependent on the passage of a fall referendum; the Waunakee School Board approved a 4.7% base wage increase for teachers and a 4.7% wage increase for all staff; and the Wisconsin Heights School Board voted to extend a 4.7% base wage increase to all employees.
3% in budget
The Madison School Board voted 6-1 in June to adopt the district’s $561.3 million preliminary budget for next school year, which included the 3% base wage increase.
Negotiations began in May with MTI requesting the 4.7% increase — the annual inflationary amount and the maximum allowed in bargaining under state law. The district offered a 2% increase — not including additional wage increases tied to experience and educational attainment, known as steps and lanes.
In the budget adopted by the district in June, that base wage increase offered by the district had grown to 3% for all staff through bargaining, along with a 2% increase specifically tied to experience and educational attainment for teachers.
MTI, along with teachers and staff, had previously warned of a staff exodus if the 4.7% increase was not met. More than 300 staff members submitted their intent to resign or retire from the district during the July regular board meeting.
“It’s disappointing because we’re all trying to be on the same page in terms of doing what’s right for our kids and our families and our community, but that involves recognizing people’s labor ... and putting your money where your mouth is if you’re going to say, ‘We value our workforce,’” Jones said.
Art of the Everyday: A recap of June in photos from Wisconsin State Journal photographers
A pod of American white pelicans gather on rocks in the Wisconsin River below the Alliant Energy dam in Prairie du Sac, Wis. Monday, June 6, 2022. The species, largely unseen in the state during much of the 20th century, are more common to the region now and are one of North America's largest flying birds, featuring a wingspan up to nine feet and weighing up to 30 pounds. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A duck lifts off the water as boaters paddle to Tenney Park Beach during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
(From left lower) Roomates Isabella Bortolotti and Rachel Bearder host friends for a pool party in their front yard, including Maddie Gehring, right, Lola Wojcik, top left, and Grover Bortolotti, all college students, on the Near West Side during a heat wave in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Syanne Morales and her son, Syncere Bowie, enjoy the cool relief offered by a water feature during a visit to the Cypress Splash Park in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
(From left) Tabitha Goldberger, 10, Camila Fernandez Adamae, 11, and Vee Schwartz, 13, react as they perform a rocket propulsion experiment using Alka-Seltzer and water in a film canister during summer camp at Stellar Tech Girls in Middleton, Wis., Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
Ashley Peotter, front, carries a canoe with her teammate Marie Barry through Tenney Park during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Kelly Parks Snider’s “Between Spaces” exhibit at the Arts + Literature Laboratoryin Madison, Wis. Friday, June 3, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Josh Hull, right, and Trevor Stahl, both of Roanoke, Virginia, who are participating in the Great Race, a vintage car rally that started in Warwick, Rhode Island on June 18 and will end in Fargo, North Dakota on June 26, prepare to hit the road after making a stop at Angell Park on their 2,300-mile journey in Sun Prairie, Wis., Thursday, June 23, 2022.
The group Wild Violets, including Raquel Aleman, right, Sam Rae, front, and Becky Burbach perform outside the Barrymore Theatre during Make Music Madison in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
Mariah Quinn Duffy, center, and her sons, from left, Kieran, 9, Ronan, 2, and Nolan, 6, add compost to a raised bed vegetable garden outside their home in Madison, Wis., Monday, June 13, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Kit Rittman and her husband Greg, front, cheer as boaters paddle down the Yahara River during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Gretchen Bushman, a recent UW-Madison grad and fan of music artist Harry Styles, relaxes outside her apartment on West Washington Avenue while escaping the heat of her non-air conditioned residence in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Raghiatou Bah and her son, Mamadou, 8, explore their new living space - a condominium purchased with assistance from a grant through Own It: Building Black Wealth - in Madison, Wis. Friday, June 17, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A Progress Pride Flag is raised above the east wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. in observance of the month of June being designated as Pride Month Wednesday, June 1, 2022. An iteration of the widely recognized Rainbow Pride Flag, the Progress Pride Flag was created to symbolize inclusion of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ community and includes additional stripes forming a chevron pattern that represent LGBTQ individuals of color and the transgender community, as well as those who are living with and who have been lost to HIV/AIDS. Assisting with the effort are Wisconsin Department of Administration workers Darrin Smith, left, and Steve Walker. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Demonstrators protest at the state Capitol after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 24, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
People gather in support of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights at the state Capitol Rotunda in Madison on June 22.
Madison Edgewood's Caden Thomas competes in the Division 2 boys high jump during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
McFarland's Julia Ackley reacts after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches on her first attempt in the Division 2 girls pole vault during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Oregon girls soccer teammates (clockwise from bottom) Addison Werth, Zoey Pagels, Kately Studebaker and Lily Eisele celebrate their 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship victory over Whitefish Bay on June 18 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.
Oregon’s Elise Boyd (22) and Whitefish Bay’a Emma Addeo (16) compete for the ball during the second half of Oregon’s 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship win at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis. Saturday, June 18, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin men’s soccer coach Neil Jones coaches athletes during a summer camp at University Bay Fields in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Milton catcher Grace Schnell, left, watches as teammate Lydia Miller catches a fly ball after it bounced off of Schnell's mitt during a Division 1 state softball quarterfinal game at Goodman Softball Complex in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Thongchai Jaidee celebrates his victory in the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Sunday, June 12, 2022. AP Photo/Kayla Wolf
Golfers, from left, Vijay Singh, Brandt Jobe and Bernhard Langer and their caddies read the green on the eighth hole during the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 10, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Elizabeth Beyer | Wisconsin State Journal
Elizabeth Beyer is a digital producer for the Wisconsin State Journal. She joined the team in 2019 and was formerly a data, video and audio reporter at the La Crosse Tribune.
