Thread: Union Curbs Rescue A Wisconsin School District

Originally Posted by bg85

that's really not true. when i was getting my math degree, i briefly considered teaching. when i realized how much more money i could make with a comparatively smaller amount of work and stress, i decided against it pretty damn quickly.

I love it. What you are saying contradicts what others have claimed. In fact a lot of those city districts pay pretty well, but they are such hell holes. Good teachers rather go where they can really teach instead of just being a cop.

Originally Posted by kwilliam10

Uhmm....not in MY school district. We have a MILE long list of things we are SUPPOSED to supply to the classroom. ...until someone tells me how much money these poor teachers spend on supplies......pure BS!!!

Just because you supply your kids, and possibly other students, and perhaps even some of the teachers' supplies in no way means the teachers spend none of their own money on these things. Our PTO has a program where teachers are allowed to turn in receipts for supplies etc for reimbursement up to some dollar limit. ($300 IIRC) Most of the teachers reach that amount and turn in their receipts within the first two months of the school year.

Originally Posted by kwilliam10

Uhmm....isn't that what they went to school to train for?? I got no sympathy that their job is "stressful."

I'm not planning a pity party, just citing reasons that they are not universally overpaid. And your 'school training' arguement actually reinforces that - Doctors, police, firemen, etc are all paid a premium beyond a layperson providing roughly the same services because they have worked to get the proper training to deal with stressful situations. Teachers are no different in that respect.

That said, I'm generally anti-union and even somewhat anti-public-school, but that doesn't mean all unionized and/or public school teachers are worthy of derision; their skills, dedication, hardships, etc should be taken into account and respected before deciding if they are or are not individually overpaid.

Originally Posted by bg85

it's hard to fill teaching positions pretty much everywhere that good teachers are actually needed. yeah of course the rich school systems have a ton of applicants, but that's not representative of the country as a whole. the fact remains that if you're certified to teach something useful like math or science, you will have absolutely no trouble finding a job in any area of the country.

WOW are you dead wrong, teacher cuts have been going all across the country. I person I know very will that has her masters to become a teacher and there is no job to be found. Period.

Now to what you call rich schools, which I believe you are talking about private schools, and in this case the teachers are paid less than government employed teachers. Government employed teachers as you know have all the bennies etc.

evil
people like myself are tired of hearing from teachers just how hard they have it when in fact they have it much better than just about anyone else in the country.
they claim they are underpaid buit in reality they are paid thousand if not tens of thousand more than a person with the same education and they also work hundreds of hours less.
they pay little if anythnig into their benefits unlke the other people, they cant be fired no matter how bad they do their job unlike other people.
then our school taxes have to go up at least 5% every year to pay for what tehy get and they complain more saying how hard they have it.

Originally Posted by sailorman126

people like myself are tired of hearing from teachers just how hard they have it when in fact they have it much better than just about anyone else in the country.

I'm sure there are spoiled and/or overpaid whiny teachers out there, just as there are sociopathic blacks, bigoted holy-roller whites, corrupt CEOs, and a plethora of other stereotypes; I'm just pointing out that all changes that are made to the detriment of a (perhaps rightfully) dis-favored group are good ideas based simply upon that criterion. Of those mentioned in the OP, I only argued against one such change, supported another, and withheld opinion on the remainder.

Originally Posted by tsquare

Well, well... how about that?
All on the backs of the poor teachers, right? No, not so much:

"This is a disaster," said Mark Miller, the Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader, in February after Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would curtail the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law -- a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials, and protesters in the streets.

Now the bill is law, and we have some very early evidence of how it is working. And for one beleaguered Wisconsin school district, it's a godsend, not a disaster.

The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it's all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.

I was just about to write about this when I found this thread. Where I live, in Superior Wisconsin, there is a great deal of complaining going on by the teachers, teachers union, and school board members about upcoming funding problems as the school year nears. The Superior school districts state subsidy is being cut by $2.5 million for the 2012-13 school year. Of course, unequivocally they blame it all on Governor Walker and his ‘massive’ cuts. The irony is, their insane fear of Walker is exactly what caused this year’s problems.

The OP touches on the fear mongering by union leaders that took place in Wisconsin. Our system is set up for the school board to negotiate contracts on behalf of the taxpayer with the teachers union. However, like many districts around this nation, the school board is filled with former teachers and school administrators sympathetic to union needs who essentially sell out the taxpayer in every negotiation. Out of fear of the Walker administrations ‘taking away collective bargaining rights’ school boards around the state allowed teachers to negotiate and extend current contracts while the Walker plan was held up in court. In the Superior school district such a contract extension was negotiated in March of this year.

The new contract requires union members to pay 12 percent of their health care insurance, and contribute 7 percent of their retirement funds to comply with the new Wisconsin law. However, because the renegotiation was completed before the loss of bargaining rights, they were not allowed to price any other insurance than the union owned WEA Trust. It turns out that other Wisconsin based health insurance companies are willing to offer significant price reductions to earn the business of school districts like Superior, who have a staff of 742 teachers and assistants. It turns out they could have saved $7,000 per teacher by shopping for health insurance.

Look at the numbers. $7K per teacher by 742 teachers equals $5.1 million the school district could have saved – if they did not panic in fear of Walker. Even with the $2.5 million of lost revenue the district would have had $2.6 million more to spend on students or hiring additional teachers for the upcoming school year.

To make things even worse, the teachers have all lost income as well. The average insurance plan through WEA Trust costs $16,000 per year while Liberty Mutual Insurance based in Wausau Wisconsin is insuring districts at an average of $9,000 per teacher. The 12 percent is costing teachers $1,920 per year yet if they had waited until after the Walker bill to negotiate their costs would only be $1,080 per year.

It is things like this about unions that anger people. All Wisconsin teachers were forced by union contract to have health insurance through WEA Trust. Meanwhile, WEA Trust is owned by the union and making windfall profits from these insurance plans. There are approximately 60,000 teachers in the state of Wisconsin, and WEA Trust is overcharging each of them by $7,000 per year. The teachers did not care because they were not paying a dime toward insurance prior to 2011. We are talking about $420 million per year being transferred from taxpayers straight into the pocket of Wisconsin teachers unions. Added, a great deal of that $420 million ends up in the campaign coffers of Democrat political candidates, finishing the money laundering scheme from taxpayers to Democrat candidates.

Now, from this perspective, can you begin to understand why Governor Walker wanted to reform this virtual taxpayer theft by the Democrat Party? Can you see why Wisconsin democrats abandoned their jobs and left the state in attempt to road block any efforts to change the current system. It is now clear why union leaders dug up rent-a-mobs to invade the capital building and intimidate Republicans. The pawns in all of this are the teachers – who are being manipulated and lied to by their own union leadership. Not necessarily to better their own interests in any way, but to ensure the future of the unholy alliance between the public sector unions and the Democratic Party.

Originally Posted by SupPackFan

Now, from this perspective, can you begin to understand why Governor Walker wanted to reform this virtual taxpayer theft by the Democrat Party? Can you see why Wisconsin democrats abandoned their jobs and left the state in attempt to road block any efforts to change the current system. It is now clear why union leaders dug up rent-a-mobs to invade the capital building and intimidate Republicans. The pawns in all of this are the teachers – who are being manipulated and lied to by their own union leadership. Not necessarily to better their own interests in any way, but to ensure the future of the unholy alliance between the public sector unions and the Democratic Party.

We can see it... the libs... they too know it but don't dare admit it.

I just cannot get over this number - the union was overcharging the taxpayers $7,000 per teacher for health insurance costs. It is irresistable to run the numbers.

In my school district there are 742 teachers, and approx 15,000 households

742 x 7000 = $5,194,000 my district was ripped off each calandar year. Divide the $5.19 million by 15,000 households . . . and that is $346 per household per year.

What this concludes, without question, is that the teachers union literally stole $346 from every property tax payer in the Superior school district in 2010.

Please, someone, tell me my analysis is wrong!

I'm curious if the NJEA has a similar health insurance racket running here in NJ.

Just did a little googling to see where NJ teachers get their healthcare insurance but didn't have any luck.

Maybe when I have more time I'll make a real effort.