Lack of unions hurt teacher recruitment in rural Wisconsin

"Finding teachers to make a life in rural America these days isn’t easy. The population is declining. The schools are isolated. The pay is low. And that’s before you get into social considerations, like fewer dating and restaurant options," Samantha Hernandez and Max Cohen report for USA Today. "From Wisconsin to New Hampshire, Illinois to Montana, rural districts are struggling with how to recruit and retain teachers, especially when the economy has been strong and well-prepared graduates have lots of other job options."

In Wisconsin, a 2011 law that essentially eliminated teachers' unions has made the situation worse. "Now teachers enter into individual contracts with districts, subject to annual renewal. Few, if any, have job protection related to their seniority. And teachers now contribute more toward their benefits," Hernandez and Cohen report. "Without union contracts and their financial incentives for those who stayed put until retirement, teachers were free to shop around – and to be poached by other districts."

Since districts could recruit and pay teachers based on performance, many younger and mid-career rural teachers were lured to larger districts that paid more. Many teachers left the state entirely, seeking jobs in nearby states like Michigan and Minnesota that have teachers' unions, Hernandez and Cohen report. Many older teachers simply retired, rather than face teaching without the protection of a union. The high turnover rate hurts student learning, according to one kindergarten teacher, because it leaves kids without consistent routines or longtime connections with teachers.

Rural districts in Wisconsin and elsewhere are dealing with the shortage in various ways, Hernandez and Cohen report. Some districts are increasingly hiring foreign teachers. Some districts are trying to entice high school students to get interested in teaching, in hopes that they'll return and teach after graduating college. Some higher ed institutions offer scholarships to students who teach in rural districts, or offer non-traditional paths for mid-career professionals to switch to teaching in rural areas.