Note: For a more thorough account of the Association's early history see the centennial edition of the Wisconsin Journal of Education, October 1, 1953.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) is an affiliate of the National Education Association. In July 1853, at the request of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Azel P. Ladd, eight educators met in Madison and drafted a constitution for the Wisconsin Teachers Association. The organization changed its name to the Wisconsin Education Association in 1935 and to the Wisconsin Education Association Council in 1972. At the first meeting the Association set forth as its goals “the mutual improvement of its members and the promotion of popular education throughout the state.” Two years later, at the 1855 annual convention the Association acquired ownership of the already existing Wisconsin Education Journal and changed the title to the Wisconsin Journal of Education. It remained the official publication of the Association until 1975 when it was superseded by a newspaper entitled News and Views.
Throughout its history the WEAC has kept in sight its original goals. Among the major accomplishments of the WEAC are such things as school libraries, certification of teachers, a uniform state tax for education, free town high schools, compulsory school attendance, a minimum pay law, a teachers' retirement fund, physical and health education in schools, state provisions for educating the mentally and physically handicapped, and a teacher tenure law.
The original constitution provided for a president, three vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, and a board of five counsellors. Together these officers formed the executive committee which effectively exercised control over the organization. Subsequently the WEAC has undergone a number of reorganizations. A 1921 change, intended to make the Association more democratic, established an elected Representative Assembly to govern the organization. Under this plan the state was divided into districts and one representative was elected from each district for every fifty teachers in the district. The executive committee was retained to govern between meetings of the Representative Assembly. In 1921 the Association also established its first permanent headquarters in Madison. Another major reorganization occurred in 1972. Throughout most of its existence the WEAC has been a professional organization encompassing state educators and educational administrators at all levels. However, since the 1960s and especially with the 1972 changes, the WEAC has effectively changed its status to that of a labor organization. Today its major role is that of a collective bargaining representative for most of the state's classroom teachers.
