How Wauwatosa Turned a Governance Failure into a Paycheck Problem 

Since the 2024 referendum, a $4.2M error was effectively pushed onto teachers, for many their raises effectively vanished in higher health premiums, central office budgets nearly doubled, and morale collapsed—while nearly half our students remain not proficient. This brief shows how governance failures turned into a paycheck problem for staff and a performance problem for kids.

Using district budget documents, open records, and staff survey data, this brief shows how the basic compact with teachers has been undermined since voters approved the 2024 operating referendum on the promise of competitive pay and financial stability.

Key findings include:

• A $4.2 million budget error that was effectively absorbed by staff through higher health premiums, in many cases wiping out much of the advertised “12% raise” and leaving educators with less take-home pay than before.

• A 15-point drop in staff satisfaction in a single year, along with a sharp decline in the share of staff who would recommend Wauwatosa as a place to work.

• Teacher accounts of feeling “at the kids’ table” and “making up the district’s financial pitfalls with [their] own paycheck.”

• Central-office budgets (including the Superintendent’s and Chief Academic Officer’s offices) nearly doubling in a year, while Academic Performance was cut, Instructional Technology was eliminated, and most elementary schools saw reductions.

• Rising principal turnover and nearly half of students still not proficient in reading and math.

None of this reflects a lack of dedication from our teachers. It reflects a system that has expanded the central office while effectively shifting the impact of its financial decisions onto the people closest to kids, with predictable consequences for morale and student outcomes.

We are asking Task Force members to:

• Read the brief carefully;

• Use it as a reference in conversations, public comment, and upcoming discussions; and

• Share it within your networks (parents, staff, neighbors, community organizations) to help ground this debate in documented evidence rather than slogans.