Michigan’s Best Teacher Gets Recognition But No Reward
No raise for three years under union contract pay scale
East Kentwood High School teacher Luke Wilcox is the state’s 2017-18 teacher of the year, as announced by the Michigan Department of Education.
Wilcox is a math teacher who has taught high school algebra 1, geometry, pre-calculus and Advanced Placement statistics at East Kentwood since 2001, according to the MDE press release. He has also served as the chairperson of the school’s math department.
Wilcox has 15 years of experience.
ForTheRecord says: According to the teachers union contract, the reward for being named the best teacher in the year will be ... three years without a raise.
The Kentwood Education Association contract states that the salaries of employees with 15 years of experience will be frozen for three consecutive years. That’s because, in Michigan, unions negotiate salaries that are determined solely by the number of college credits earned and years of experience.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.