As you may have heard, the big news in Wisconsin is that a new Walker rule allowing school districts to cut teacher pay by approximately 30% is at the tipping point of becoming big news in Wisconsin.

The Nation's John Nichols, who is also the associate editor of the Capitol Times has been all over this, explaining on Friday that the reason why this isn't big news quite yet is that the new Walker rule is "so draconian, people can't believe it's real."

MTI, the Madison teachers union, has come out strong, saying in a release, "only in Walker's world could a 'cost of living increase' equal a substantial pay cut."

In addition, state reps Mark Pocan, Brett Davis and Sondy Pope-Roberts have both been speaking out about this, with Pope-Roberts saying “these rules allow for teachers’ base pay to be redefined, and I think that’s absurd” and Pocan, framing the debate against Walker's recent bonuses for cronies said, "Ask Wisconsinites if they'd rather take money out of the pockets of experienced public school teachers with advanced education or give raises to a select few: I guarantee you, Wisconsin won't stand with Walker."

Another angle that the Capital Times points out in an editorial is that this will disproportionately hit women:

For the best and the brightest teachers in Wisconsin, a majority of whom happen to be women, Scott Walker's proposal could mean a pay CUT of as much as 30 percent.

This is real. ALL of the state's top labor lawyers have reached a consensus that it is real. And as soon as it becomes widely known, Wisconsin is going erupt once again.

For more information, I encourage people to listen to this interview with Tim Hawks, the labor attorney that represents American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, Green Bay Education Association and Madison Teachers’ Inc:



Or this interview with (my wife) Katy Lounsbury, whose clients include AFSCME Council 40, Madison Firefighters and Madison Streets Department:

Or this interview with AFSCME Council 24 president, Marty Beil:

