For now, students and teachers will both attend school in fall 2003.

A statewide strike was not approved by teachers attending the Wisconsin Education Association Council’s assembly last week in La Crosse.

The action does not rule out the possibility of other strikes or alternate forms of protest. Delegates to the council approved asking the union’s 92,000 members if they would participate in a statewide protest. Members will be mailed ballots in October.

“Our president, Stan Johnson, put forward the concept that we would ask all 92,000 members what they want to do,” said Dick Butera, WEAC executive director. “Then our 650-plus affiliates will come back with their answers.”

The union protest is fixed around state-imposed school district revenue caps and restrictions on collective bargaining for teachers. At the center of the problem is a nine-year-old law called the Qualified Economic Offer that caps teachers’ annual salary and benefit increase at 3.8 percent.

Stan Johnson, president of WEAC, said “members are seeing the quality of education in our great schools decline because of these onerous laws.”

Butera said these laws overlook children with exceptional abilities or special needs.

“Special-needs children are not being considered,” Butera said. “Children with extraordinary talent are not being considered, and at the same time we have to take care of everyone else. We believe every kid deserves a great school and to do this we must be freer at the bargaining table and in the budget.”

Nearly 1,300 WEAC delegates attended the meeting at the La Crosse Center. Originally, WEAC had hoped to set a strike date for Sep. 2, 2003, but that fell through after teachers did not approve the notion. Teacher strikes are illegal in Wisconsin, but Johnson said the amount of frustration evident in the teachers of this state warrants action.

“After suffering under state-imposed revenue controls and the Qualified Economic Offer law, WEAC members are frustrated enough to initiate coordinated statewide protests,” Johnson said in a release. “The QEO and revenue controls have inflicted so much damage on public schools and the teaching profession that our members are ready to move forward. We will proceed with preparing for statewide actions.”

Since the inception of QEO in 1993, average salaries for teachers have fallen to the national average. Prior to the QEO, the state ordered binding arbitration for unions and school districts with unresolved contracts. Under the QEO, if school boards continue offering the same health insurance and increase salaries and benefits by 3.8 percent each year, the teachers will be prohibited from asking an arbitrator for more.

A provision in the Senate Democrats’ version of the state budget would restore state-mandated arbitration, even if school districts manage to meet the minimum salary and benefit increases required by the QEO.

Proponents of the law suggested teachers will be reluctant to partake in any strike for fear of hefty fines and jail time. Also, many contend the system keeps school spending from ballooning out of control.

Rapidly rising health insurance costs have cut into teacher’s salaries. As a result, teachers in some districts will face layoffs and pay cuts. Those with the least seniority are expected to be the hardest hit.

The Wisconsin Association of School Boards favors continuation of QEO as long as revenue caps remain in place.