Teacher Compensation Practices When Collective Bargaining Disappears - A Follow-up Study 10 Years After

Oct 15, 2026

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In 2011, Wisconsin limited public employee collective bargaining through Wisconsin Act 10, shifting wage bargaining away from teacher salary schedule specifics and indexing total base wage increases to inflation. With bargaining scope reduced, districts gained unilateral freedom to redesign teacher compensation, including moving away from step-and-lane schedules. A follow-up of 25 districts using Act 10 flexibility examines whether performance pay or knowledge- and skill-based systems persist. Fall 2024 interviews show most reverted largely to traditional scheduling, with streamlined lanes and primary pay progression by experience; most abandoned performance and complex knowledge/skill models, while retaining flexibility in starting pay for hard-to-staff fields.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Policy change: Wisconsin Act 10 and bargaining scope

District compensation reforms after Act 10

Follow-up study purpose and methods

Teacher Compensation Practices When Collective Bargaining Disappears: A Follow-up Study 10 Years After WCER Working Paper No. 2025-3 July 2025 Steve Kimball, Anthony Milanowski, Bradley Carl, Jessica Arrigoni, and Elisabeth Geraghty Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative Wisconsin Center for Education Research University of Wisconsin–Madison [steven.kimball@wisc.edu](steven.kimball@wisc.edu) Key words: teacher compensation, performance pay, knowledge and skill-based pay, recruitment and retention Suggested citation: Kimball, S., Milanowski, A., Carl, B., Arrigoni, J., & Geraghty, E. (2025) . Teacher compensation practices when collective bargaining disappears: A follow-up study 10years after (WCER Working Paper No. 2025-3). University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research. © 2025 by Steve Kimball, Anthony Milanowski, Bradley Carl, Jessica Arrigoni, and Elisabeth Geraghty. All rights reserved. The opinions, 􀏐indings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the researchers and do not necessarily re􀏐lect the views ofWCER, or cooperating institutions. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for noncommercial purposes by any means, provided that the above copyright notice appears on all copies. WCER working papers are available at [https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers](https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers). Teacher Compensation Practices When Collective Bargaining Disappears: A Follow-up Study 10 Years After Steve Kimball, Anthony Milanowski, Bradley Carl, Jessica Arrigoni, and Elisabeth Geraghty ABSTRACT In 2011, Wisconsin curtailed public employee collective bargaining through legislation (Wisconsin Act 10) that limited the scope of bargaining to total base wages, rather than the specifics of teacher salary schedules, and tied total base wage increases to the rate of inflation. By restricting the scope of bargaining, Act 10 provided Wisconsin school districts with a much freer hand in designing teacher compensation systems, including unilaterally reforming the traditional step-and-lane salary schedule. Because some research has suggested that providing more pay system flexibility has impacts on teacher retention and student outcomes, one might predict that Wisconsin districts introducing flexible pay reforms should continue to use them. However, like many reforms in education, teacher compensation reforms are subject to entropy as conditions change and old patterns of thinking persist. This research follows up on our earlier study (Heneman et al., 2019) of 25 Wisconsin districts that revised teacher compensation systems using flexibility provided by Act 10, to investigate how many districts still use pay systems that reward performance or knowledge and skill development and provide flexibility in pay setting to recruit and retain hard-to-staff teaching specialties. Follow-up interviews and document collection conducted in fall 2024 showed that: • Most districts that moved away from traditional (step-and-lane) teacher salary schedules had largely returned to the traditional model by fall 2024. • Most are now using experience as the primary basis for pay progression. • Although many have returned to lanes for educational attainment (degrees and credits), the schedules are more streamlined and do not provide lanes for simply accumulating credits. • Almost all the districts that experimented with using teacher performance as more than a minimal requirement for pay progression or bonuses have abandoned this approach. • Most districts that used complex forms of knowledge and skill-based pay have dropped them. • Most districts are still exercising flexibility in setting starting pay for teachers in hard-tostaff or shortage fields. This is true even for those that have returned to step-and-lane schedules. Common reasons for moving back toward the traditional schedule include teacher preference, principals’ inability or

FAQs

What policy change in 2011 prompted districts to redesign teacher compensation in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Act 10 curtailed public employee collective bargaining by limiting scope to total base wages and tying increases to inflation, rather than teacher salary schedule details.

What does the follow-up study investigate after districts used Act 10 flexibility?

The study examines how many districts still use pay systems rewarding performance or knowledge and skill development, and whether they maintain flexibility to recruit and retain hard-to-staff specialties.

What were the main findings from fall 2024 interviews and document collection?

Most districts that left step-and-lane schedules had largely returned by fall 2024, most use experience for pay progression, most abandoned performance-based approaches and complex knowledge/skill-based pay, but many still set flexible starting pay for shortage fields.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Melati