Republicans love to argue that government should be operated more like a business. Well, welcome to the world of market incentives:

As of the April 15 deadline, 138 Madison teachers have decided to retire, Superintendent Dan Nerad said. That's a 62 percent increase over the average number of retirements over the previous five years.

The district plans to fill all of the positions, Nerad said, though the loss of so many more veteran teachers than usual could have a more noticeable effect on students and novice teachers.

"A lot of these people have been working with generations of students and influencing people for a long, long time," Nerad said. "Our intention is to replace them with knowledgeable people, but as a rule they will be less experienced."

See, it's not just capital that's mobile. So too is labor. And when you mistreat and/or under-compensate your workers, they'll move on to better opportunities elsewhere. But economic incentives aside, fuck... I wouldn't work for an employer who didn't respect me. Would you?

That's why school districts throughout Wisconsin are seeing higher than normal retirement rates, while state public employee retirement rates are up 80 percent over last year. And while no doubt in this economy they'll eventually fill all these open jobs, they'll fill 'em with less experienced, less qualified workers, ultimately meaning a lesser education for Wisconsin children. Because in the free market, you get what you pay for.