Madison school board members double their pay, reject plan to be on MMSD’s health insurance

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Members of the Madison School Board are giving themselves a raise. 

Until now, school board members made $8,000 a year. That number was last updated 10 years ago. 

Board members compared Madison to other districts, both in Wisconsin and those of similar size across the country. In Milwaukee, school board members make $18,000 per year.

The Madison Board of Education approved raising members’ pay to $15,000 a year at its meeting Monday night. Members focused on making elected office accessible for everyone. 

“We have to take into consideration that the work of education is commonly associated with women. The work of this board is done by a group that is majority women, majority people of color,” said member Maia Pearson. “Devaluing our labor has a historical connotation and reality to it that we have to confront in order to make sure that people of all types of backgrounds can sit at this table and do this work.” 

Meanwhile, board member Martha Siravo said she looked into past records to determine when board members got raises over the last few decades. 

“They have notably made adjustments when there have been additions to the workload,” Siravo said. “Over time with No Child Left Behind, and Act 10, and now we that have the dismantling of the Department of Education, I can only imagine what we’re gonna be handling on the local level is just simply going to be increased over time as we try to maintain the standards and everything that we have now, and to continue to make sure that our students and our staff can thrive in all of our buildings.” 

There was another proposal on the table Monday night: whether to allow school board members to be on MMSD’s health insurance. If approved, Madison would’ve become just the second district in Wisconsin to allow school board members to be on their district’s healthcare plan. However, the board voted unanimously against that proposal.