This post originally appeared at https://www.badgerinstitute.org/teacher-morale-comparatively-low-in-wisconsin/

They want more colleagues and strict rules on cell phones

Wisconsin was one of the lowest-ranked states in a state-by-state index of teacher morale released by the news outlet Education Week in early March. But Wisconsin teachers said hiring more colleagues could help.

Wisconsin teachers’ assessments of their own morale averaged out to a score of 2, better than only eight other states. State averages on the -100 to 100 scale ranged from -14 in New Hampshire to 47 in Georgia. The national average was 18.

The index was based on three questions on a larger survey the nonprofit weekly ran last fall. Respondents were asked whether their morale at work was worse or better than one year before, whether they expected it to be worse or better a year in the future, and whether it was mostly good or bad now.

Besides New Hampshire, states with respondents reporting worse morale than Wisconsin were Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas and New Jersey. Among Wisconsin’s neighbors, Illinois was a sunny 36, Iowa was 21, Minnesota nearly average at 19, Michigan was 11, and Indiana barely better than us, at 4.

The survey, which polled 2,592 public school teachers, also asked about steps that could improve morale. The magazine said its earlier research showed that, far and away, the leading answer teachers gave was a pay raise — a 2023 survey found the median respondent felt a 31% raise would be fair — so the survey asked teachers what one thing other than a raise would be most helpful. The leading answer, of about a quarter of teachers nationally and in Wisconsin, was more staff.

The question was one of the sharpest differences between Wisconsin teachers and the national average. While the fourth-highest answer nationally, at 10%, was “a pay raise is the only thing that would improve my morale,” only 1% of Wisconsin teachers drew such a red line.

Wisconsin teachers also diverged from the U.S. average on school leadership improvements, with well over half citing “less micro-management,” consistent and fair treatment by administrators, and more support “in the face of unreasonable parent demands.”

Wisconsin teachers also were markedly more likely, when asked what kind of additional staff to hire, to cite teachers, “paraprofessionals” such as teachers aides, and “people of color” — the last being cited by 40% of Wisconsin respondents, compared to 15% nationwide.

At 21% of respondents, Wisconsinites were more likely to cite school resource officers as hiring priorities than were teachers nationwide, at 16%.

Asked whether a series of potential changes to school climate would raise or lower their morale, Wisconsin respondents were unanimously in favor of capping the number of students per class.  The only other question that drew so lopsidedly favorable a response was stricter rules on students’ mobile phone use: More than 60% both in Wisconsin and nationwide favored it, while only 11% in Wisconsin and 2% nationwide opposed.

And while slightly more teachers nationwide — 27% to 23% — opposed adding metal detectors at school doors, the idea found more favor in Wisconsin, where 31% of teachers said screening everyone would raise their morale. Eight percent said it would lower it.

Nationally and in Wisconsin, teachers were favorable toward “a back-to-basics approach emphasizing basic skills, memorization and/or texts from the Western canon.” In Wisconsin,  37% said that more of such an approach would improve their morale, while 14% said they’d be happier with less of it.

The survey was part of an ongoing series of stories about the state of teaching at Education Week. The series can be seen here.

Patrick McIlheran is the Director of Policy at the Badger Institute. 

Any use or reproduction of Badger Institute articles or photographs requires prior written permission. To request permission to post articles on a website or print copies for distribution, contact Badger Institute President Mike Nichols at mike@badgerinstitute.org or 262-389-8239. 

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