Compensation for Wisconsin teachers dropped 19% since 2010, report finds
It's clear from the hundreds of vacant teaching positions that Wisconsin's teaching workforce is in trouble.
A new state report crystalizes the problem with data from the 2021-22 school year.
Here are four takeaways from the state Department of Public Instruction's 2022 Educator Preparation Program and Workforce Analysis Report.
Median salary for Wisconsin teachers is about $57,000
In the 2021-22 school year, the median salary for Wisconsin teachers was $57,279, the report found. Adding in benefits, total median compensation was $81,566.
When adjusted for inflation, that's a 13% drop in median pay and 19% drop in median compensation since 2010.
In 2010, Wisconsin teachers had a median salary of $66,086 and compensation of $100,217, when adjusted for inflation.
While teacher salaries used to exceed the average salaries for other college graduates, that flipped after 2020, the report shows. On surveys administered by the DPI, school districts reported that compensation was one of the top reasons they had lost teachers.
Jill Underly, the state superintendent who heads DPI, called on lawmakers to increase funding allowances for public schools, after years of capping them at levels that haven't kept up with inflation.
“Our education workforce is in crisis. Wisconsin’s kids are suffering from losing quality teachers," Underly said in a statement. "Solving this challenge starts with upholding the state’s responsibility of funding our public schools. We have the resources, and we owe it to our kids to do more.”
More Wisconsin college students are in teacher programs, but many don't stay with it
Wisconsin actually saw an increase in students enrolling in educator preparation programs — outdoing other states and its own numbers in the last decade.
But after enrollment, a number of factors may be deterring students from the profession.
First, students can only complete an educator preparation program and gain full licensure if they pass a test: the Foundations of Reading Test, known as the FORT. Only 48% of test-takers passed the FORT on their first try in Wisconsin, according to the DPI report. Just 56% passed on any attempt.
The FORT passage rates have significantly declined in Wisconsin over the past decade, according to the report, which notes this is "undoubtedly impacting the workforce."
Teachers are allowed to work before passing the FORT by obtaining a one-year Tier I license while working toward full licensure. About 4% of Wisconsin's teachers were working with Tier I licenses, with a higher rate in charter schools: 14%, according to the report.
Of those aspiring teachers who completed their educator preparation programs, just 79% went on to be licensed and only 68% went on to work in a Wisconsin public school.
From there, retention is a problem. Only about 60% of new Wisconsin public school teachers are still teaching in Wisconsin public schools six years later, according to the report.
In addition to compensation, school districts reported to DPI that the top reasons they were losing teachers were: personal reasons, work-life balance, leaving for another profession and workload.
About 71% of Wisconsin teachers are white women
The report found that there have been "no significant changes" in the demographics of Wisconsin teachers.
As of the 2021-22 school year, about 95% of Wisconsin's public school teachers were white, and 76% were female.
"These demographics are starkly different than the makeup of the student population in the state," the report notes. "This difference matters in terms of student outcomes."
The report cited a 2022 study that found Black students who had at least one Black teacher were 13% more likely to graduate from high school.
Special education is the area of greatest need for Wisconsin teachers
The report found that the teaching area with the highest shortages, based on licensing data, was special education, which has consistently been a shortage area for the state.
About 74% of school districts that responded to a DPI survey said they had vacant special education positions. The voluntary survey was completed by 165 districts, about 37% of total districts in the state.
New programs are working to fill the gaps. A new University of Wisconsin-Madison Special Education Teacher Residency Program covers the cost of an in-state resident's master’s degree in special education and provides a stipend for students who agree to work at Milwaukee Public Schools. And the new Wisconsin Special Educators Induction Program provides coaching and training for new special education teachers.
After special education, districts said other areas of greatest concern were, in descending order: math, career and technical education, science and speech-language pathologists.
Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @RoryLinnane.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin teacher salary drops, teacher shortage worsens
