Protesting "Sick" Teachers Could Cost Wisc. Schools $3,000,000 per Day

Teachers in Madison, Wisconsin protesting the agenda of Governor Scott Walker will not only miss days of school, but they will also cost the state of Wisconsin up to one million dollars a day.

A brief explanation: When teachers call in sick in Wisconsin, they still get paid.  So, even though the vast majority of teachers who called in sick last week were only doing so to protest, they still got their wages.  According to the Madison Metropolitan School District administration, this is costing the state a tremendous amount of money.

Over $900,000 a day, to be precise.

And because these protests are going on day after day, and because many teachers have no compunction about lying to children's faces, the amount grows.

Even worse, the school district has the ability to dock the pay of teachers if they cannot prove they were sick.  Unfortunately, as we reported two days ago, fake doctors notes are being handed out en masse at these protests.

Protests in Wisconsin

While much of the phony notes have been exposed, it will be difficult for employers to prove that specific notes are indeed fake.  On top of that, the collective bargaining rules in place in Wisconsin also make it so "sick days" are almost automatically compensated because they are considered "excused."

Making matters worse is that there are almost certainly other fake notes being handed out.  Fake/unethical doctors handed out notes, what is to stop others from doing the same?  And more discreetly?

It must also be pointed out that the $900,000 figure is only in the Madison school district.  State-wide, the amount could be substantially more.  In other words, this will make Wisconsin's financial situation worse, while Wisconsin children are losing days of education.  If all the teachers in Madison and Milwaukee alone call in sick, daily expenses for "sick days" exceeds $3,000,000.

The MacIver Institute continues:

If all the teachers in Milwaukee and Madison are paid for the days missed, the protest related salaries for just the state’s two largest districts would exceed $6.6 million dollars. 

Using a figure of $100,005 for average teacher compensation in MPS and an average yearly workload of 195 days, these teachers cost approximately $513 per day in salary and benefits to employ. Spread over 5,960.3 full-time licensed teachers in the district, this adds up to $3,057,634 in daily expenses.

Please bookmark!