When It Comes to Salary, Joe Sheehan is More About ME Than WE

Joe Sheehan is running for Wisconsin State Assembly in District 26, which covers Sheboygan. Sheehan previously served as the superintendent of the Sheboygan Area School District (SASD). After announcing his retirement, the SASD struggled to hire a replacement. The Board of Education asked Sheehan to return for another year to allow more time to find a successor.

Sheehan agreed, but not without securing a significant pay raise for himself. In 2017, Sheehan’s salary was $156,752.

In his final year with the SASD, his salary ballooned to $175,000.

This massive raise of almost 12% came at a time when teachers’ raises were barely 3% or 4%, dictated by the Consumer Price Index.

The “WE” mentality Sheehan often boasts about doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to salary.

A significant factor is how retirement pensions work. The state retirement system calculates pension amounts based on an employee’s two highest-earning years.

This substantial salary increase was not just significant for Sheehan’s final year as superintendent; it also boosted his pension payments for the rest of his life.

The one-year salary bump increased the annual pension he will receive in retirement.

Meanwhile, teachers were setting up internet donation sites to purchase classroom supplies and were emerging from years of salary freezes during which there were NO pay raises.

This is the reality of what Sheehan’s WE mentality looks like in practice.

Is Sheehan about WE, or is he all about ME?

At the time, school funding was a concern. The ramifications of Act 10 and school choice were being blamed for challenges in public education. Money was tight.

Somehow, Sheehan managed to secure an almost 12% raise for himself.

Sheehan often states, “We are all in this together,” but the SASD staff was not part of that WE when it came to salary increases. Only Joe Sheehan was.

If Joe Sheehan gets to Madison, will he include you in his version of WE, or will he leave you out like he did the SASD staff for HIS own benefit?