Protest Cost to Taxpayers: $9 Million

Are you wondering what these days and days of protests by teachers are costing the taxpayers of Wisconsin?

I am.

The MacIver Institute has updated numbers.

As Milwaukee Public School teachers left their classrooms to march in Madison Friday, they likely earned more than $3 million to not teach students in Wisconsin’s largest school district.

In Madison, the school district was closed for three days after hundreds of teachers engaged in a mass sick-out so they could attend protest rallies at the State Capitol. That could cost the district $2.7 million.

Late Sunday night Madison Metropolitan School District administration announced their schools would be shut down yet one more day, at a possible cost of more than $900,000.

...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.

The average teacher’s total compensation in Madison is $74,912, according to the Department of Public Instruction. Each day costs $384.16 per teacher. The district has 2,370 teachers.

These figures don’t include administrators and support staff, many of which got an unexpected paid days off thanks to the week’s protests.

The issue extends far beyond Milwaukee and Madison, however. More than two dozen school districts were closed for at least one day last week as teachers called in sick to attend protests over the Budget Repair bill in Madison.

Instead of being paid to teach the children of Wisconsin, the teachers are being paid to attempt to shut down Wisconsin's government.

The absent teachers, including those with the fake medical excuses, need to face disciplinary action.

We, the taxpayers, expect them to be in the classroom.

I think they should be fired if they don't return tomorrow. As it is, I don't like the thought of the sort of propaganda they'll be spewing at the kids if they decide to return to their classrooms.

The best thing to do is fire them.

I'm sure teachers from all over the country would jump at the opportunity to fill their positions and receive their generous benefits.