For the better part of the last decade, no piece of legislation has loomed larger in public policy debates in Wisconsin than Act 10, the collective bargaining reform law passed in 2011. The controversial budget repair bill, introduced by Governor Scott Walker in the first weeks of his first term, represented a fundamental break with the past and a new era for state and local governments in the Badger State.
WILL has been on the forefront of examining the impact of Act 10 on education, the teaching workforce, and puncturing the myths that persist about the law.
Research and Analysis
Back to The Past II: The Fiscal Threat of Reversing Act 10 for Local Governments
Sep 2024 | Will Flanders
The impact of overturning Act 10 on Wisconsin would be quite dramatic. In education, the law allowed school districts to move away from a ‘steps and ladders’ pay system to systems where teachers can be rewarded for their impact on academics. Terminating Act 10 would likely restore the old system where quality played no role in teacher pay.
Back to The Past: The Fiscal Threat of Reversing Act 10 in Public Education
April 2024 | Will Flanders
Act 10 is facing a new lawsuit and WILL has unveiled a new report providing an in-depth examination into the fiscal impacts on school districts if former Governor Scott Walker’s landmark collective bargaining reforms were reversed. Our findings show that ending Act 10 would create a substantial hole in school district budgets, negatively impacting the educational experience of Wisconsin students across the state.
Chalkboards and Campaign Checks: Political Contributions of Wisconsin Teachers and Education Reform
May 2023 | Will Flanders & Cori Petersen
WILL released its newest policy report, “Chalkboards and Campaign Checks: Political Contributions of Wisconsin Teachers and Education Reform.” By examining the state’s campaign finance system, we found that the vast majority of donors who identified themselves as teachers have contributed to Democratic candidates and Democratic-affiliated organizations.
Politics in the Pandemic: The Role of Unions in School Reopening Decisions,
November 16, 2020 | Will Flanders
As the new school year approached in 2020, individual school districts in Wisconsin had to make important decisions about in-person learning or using virtual options. But how much did the local presence of the COVID-19 virus factor into these decisions? Research Director Will Flanders, author of Politics in the Pandemic: The Role of Unions in School Reopening Decisions, finds that factors other than the local presence of the virus appear to have played a much larger role.
Democracy in the Workplace: Examining Union Recertification in Wisconsin under Act 10
November 21, 2019 | Will Flanders and Lauren Tunney
Act 10, passed in 2011, was a disruptive force that shook the status quo for public-sector unions. Recent research on Act 10 has found the reforms resulted in higher test scores and a new teacher marketplace, without negative effects on class size and teacher gross pay. WILL’s new original research examined the effect annual union certification votes, a critical Act 10 reform, had on public unions, union members, and education in Wisconsin.
Keeping Score: Act 10’s Impact on Student Achievement
October 3, 2018 | Will Flanders and Collin Roth
WILL conducted the most comprehensive and sophisticated study to date on the impact of Act 10 on student outcomes. Open records requests were sent to every school district in Wisconsin to determine when Act 10 was implemented. With nearly 90% response rate, WILL was then able to conduct an analysis using control variables to isolate the effect of Act 10 on standardized test score and graduation rates.
Silent Successes: The (Still) Undertold Stories of School Districts using Act 10
August 22, 2018 | Will Flanders and Lauren Tunney
Silent Successes examined contracts between Wisconsin school districts and their unions to determine how superintendents are using Act 10 reforms. The report documents how Wisconsin districts have implemented two different systems of merit pay: Merit pay at the discretion of the school board, and merit pay based on performance evaluations. Both systems accomplish the same end— they incentivize the teacher pay system.
The Impact of Act 10 on Wisconsin's Education Workforce
June 21, 2016 | Martin Lueken, Will Flanders, and CJ Szafir
A new report that studies how Act 10 has impacted the new marketplace for teachers in Wisconsin after five years of implementation. The study is the most comprehensive analysis yet on the effect of the law on classroom sizes and teacher pay, benefits, experience, and race. The findings show that the claims that Act 10 would have dire consequences on the education workforce were greatly exaggerated.
Undertold Stories of Act 10: How Superintendents Have Used Act 10 to Reform Public Schools
April 19, 2016 | CJ Szafir, Will Flanders, and Alexandra Hudson
With collective bargaining limited and the unions weakened, superintendents of public schools no longer have to seek approval from the unions to make changes to the administration of their schools. They are free to adopt the best practices of teacher pay or classroom management, according to criteria other than the rigid policies from a union collective bargaining agreement.
WILL’s report explores these Act 10 stories across the state.
Media and Commentary
The Hill | Act 10 benefited education in Wisconsin — and may empower workers elsewhere
July 23, 2021 | Rick Esenberg and Will Flanders
Cap Times | Extending Act 10 to police unions could make officers more accountable to the public
June 14, 2020 | Will Flanders and Cori Petersen
Wall Street Journal | Scott Walker’s Gift to His Democratic Successor
April 5, 2019 | CJ Szafir and Collin Roth
RealClearPolicy | Collective Bargaining and Pension Reform in Wisconsin
October 31, 2018 | Collin Roth and Will Flanders
WILL Blog | WHAT WOULD AN ACT 10 REPEAL LOOK LIKE?
October 18, 2018 | CJ Szafir and Collin Roth
Center Square | Study: Act 10 leads to improvement in Wisconsin math testing results
October 4, 2018 | Noell Evans
RightWisconsin | THE WASHINGTON POST’S WHOPPERS ABOUT WALKER’S EDUCATION POLICIES
July 5, 2018 | Will Flanders
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | The next absurd Act 10 lawsuit
November 2, 2016 | Rick Esenberg, CJ Szafir, and Libby Sobic
PBS Wisconsin | Rick Esenberg and Scot Ross Discuss WILL report
June 24, 2016 |
Wall Street Journal | Critics of Wisconsin’s Public-Union Reforms Keep Firing Blanks
July 22, 2016 | CJ Szafir and Collin Roth
Wisconsin Public Radio | Report Finds Education Workforce Has Seen Few Impacts from Act 10
June 21, 2016 | Kyla Calvert Mason
National Review | Walker’s Union Reforms Have Helped, Not Hurt, Wisconsinites
April 22, 2016 | CJ Szafir