Waukesha Teacher Compensation: Education over Experience

Amy Hetzner:

Nearly a decade after the School District started shifting its pay scale to emphasize education over experience, about one-third of Waukesha teachers are at the top of the school system's salary schedule.

More than 300 of 960 district teachers made $70,507 in 2006-'07, the highest salary available to teachers and other certified staff without picking up extra duties.

District officials are careful to point out that the compressed salary schedule, in which teachers can earn large pay boosts for reaching certain benchmarks in graduate and post-graduate education, doesn't cost the district more than a traditional schedule that pays based on a mixture of experience and education.

But because many of the teachers earning top pay also have seniority privileges protecting them from layoffs, the top-loaded pay system could cause problems as the district looks to more staff cuts to balance its budgets.

More at the Waukesha Taxpayer's League.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 24, 2007 12:00 AM
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