Dozens of veteran teachers and parents told the Madison Metropolitan School District Board on Nov. 24 that a salary compression change dating to 2001 has stripped years of step increases from long-serving educators, reducing pay now and lowering retirement benefits.

"You can fix this. You need to fix this," said one teacher who described doing the math on decades of paychecks and urged the board to make remediation an urgent priority. Andrea Mizzarelli, president of the teachers unit for Madison Teachers Inc., said she estimated it would cost close to $3,500,000 to restore eliminated levels for affected staff.

Speakers described examples of staff losing multiple steps when the district converted numbered salary steps to letters and when several levels were removed around 2018. Commentators said the change has led many veteran teachers to work second jobs, consider leaving the district and face reduced pension calculations. Multiple speakers framed the request as a matter of equity and student continuity, saying experienced staff mentor new teachers and support student success.

In the board’s discussion following the human resources report, administration officials said the district is conducting an RFP to secure an external vendor to study salary compression across bargaining units and provide regional comparisons and recommendations. Dr. Esser and other administrators said the vendor-selection process was nearing completion, that interviews were scheduled in early December, and that the teacher unit will be prioritized for study and potential remedies once recommendations are available.

Board members stressed budget constraints and the need for reliable data before committing to multi‑year remedy plans. Dr. Haver told the board that recommendations might require multi‑year investments and that the district wants a third‑party analysis so adjustments are durable and comparable to peer districts.

What’s next: administrators said vendor interviews are scheduled Dec. 5 and that the RFP and any resulting contracting will come to the board as part of routine consent processes. Specific fiscal actions to implement any recommended corrections were described as likely to appear in the 2026–27 budget process, pending the study’s findings.