The Beaver Dam Education Association is a local labor union representing teachers in the Beaver Dam Unified School District in Wisconsin, a school district that comprises one high school, one middle school, and five elementary schools. The union is a local affiliate of the left-of-center Wisconsin Education Association Council, which is the statewide teachers union affiliated with the National Education Association. The union was among many unions in Wisconsin that in 2024 sued seeking to overturn portions of Wisconsin’s Act 10, a state government-worker collective-bargaining policy change adopted in 2011 under then-Governor Scott Walker (R). ¹

Background

The Beaver Dam Education Association was formed in 1971 and is classified as a 501(c)(6) association headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The union has not filed a full publicly disclosed tax return with the IRS since 2008, indicating that the union generates less than $50,000 in revenue. ²

The union represents teachers and other certified educators in the Beaver Dam Unified School District in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The school district operates a pre-K to 12th grade program and serves 3,300 students in the area, operating the Beaver Dam High School, Beaver Dam Middle School, and five neighborhood elementary schools. ³

The union has little public-facing presence other than a Facebook page and being a party to lawsuits along with other local unions in the state. The group’s Facebook page mostly shares pro-union articles and content from other sources such as the National Education Association and the Wisconsin Education Association Council. ⁴

In 2022 the Beaver Dam Education Association (BDEA) and the Beaver Dam Unified School District entered mediation with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) after the two sides came to an impasse over teacher pay raises. WERC declared it was at an impasse with BDUSD and BDEA and certified that staff increases of $2,045 per level could be applied following formal board approval. Beaver Dam Education Association president Matt Ziebarth said at the time that the Beaver Dam Unified School District board of education changed how the cost-of-living increase was distributed. ⁵

Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Act 10

The Beaver Dam Education Association was involved in a 2024 lawsuit that led to a state judge overturning large portions of Wisconsin’s 2011 law that changed mandatory collective bargaining laws in the state. The judge who issued the ruling had signed a petition to recall then-Governor Scott Walker (R), leading to criticism from the right against “activist judges” and “legislating from the bench.” ¹

BDEA was among several teachers’ unions involved in the suit, which largely centered around public-sector bargaining. The suit argued that the 2011 law violated equal protection guarantees in the Wisconsin Constitution by dividing public employees into “general” and “public safety” employees with public safety employees being exempt from the collective bargaining limitations imposed on “general” public employees. ¹

The Beaver Dam Education Association and Matthew Ziebarth, a high school teacher in the Beaver Dam Unified district who serves as that union’s chief negotiator, were each listed as plaintiffs in the case. They argued in the lawsuit that Act 10 curtailed their ability to bargain for economic and non-economic terms and conditions of employment outside of employees’ base wages. ⁵

1. Opoien, Jessie and Schulte, Laura. “Dane County judge strikes down elements of Wisconsin’s Act 10 law that curbed public unions.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 3, 2024. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/07/03/dane-county-judge-strikes-down-elements-of-wisconsins-act-10-law/74297698007/
2.  “Beaver Dam Education Associaiton. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237080923
3. “District.” Beaver Dam Unified School District. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.bdusd.org/district/index.cfm
4. “Beaver Dam Education Association.” Facebook. Accessed July 22, 2024.   https://www.facebook.com/BDEAWEACNEA/
5. Pederson, Terri. “Wage increase approved for Beaver Dam educators during a special meeting.” WiscNews. August 30, 2022. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/wisconsin-teachers-sue-to-restore-collective-bargaining-rights/2023/12