Front page article from this past summer:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/new-berlin-could-lose-a-third-of-teachers-eh5sb1k-160305175.html
New Berlin has become ground zero for testing the delicate balance between the pursuit of savings and workplace satisfaction in schools. Freed from the restrictions of union contracts in this largely Republican, fiscally conservative community, New Berlin's administration and School Board members say they've implemented changes that are good for the district and the 4,700 students enrolled here.
They've gotten control of salaries, bringing them closer to the state average; raised the minimum starting wage by $5,000, because board members believed there was too much compensation on the high end and not enough at the entry level; and in general taken back a district that many considered to be in the pocket of the teachers union.
But whereas other districts are reporting normal turnover, 50 of New Berlin's 314 teachers have resigned or retired so far this year, according to the administration.
There's strong speculation that about a third of this year's staff will be elsewhere by the end of the summer; employees have until Thursday to resign without a financial penalty.
The administrators have always been really authoritarian. A few years ago, some kid scrawled a bomb threat on a toilet wall and next thing there were half a dozen city cops strolling the halls with guns on their hips. Every day, in plain clothes. Video cameras all over the place. I went to a high school in the same athletic conference, not that far away. Schools were totally different back then. Critical thinking and the pursuit and challenges of "intellectual curiosity," (thank you, Mr. Lemley) are what I remember being emphasized.
...It's all legal because the majority of voters back the school administrators.
= new reply since forum marked as read