Then they described their health plan and noted how much it costs them (read us!). There was no mention that it is our money that they are budgeting! It is our tax dollars, and they are telling us how they are going to spend it!
They lamented that if they are unable to reveal financial solvency, the state might come in and take over. Well, maybe the state would be a bit more prudent in their spending. Now there’s something the union fears!
I have written that teachers are among the last bastion of noble professionals, and many are underpaid. But that does not mean that all teachers are effective. Possessing the knowledge and being gifted in imparting it so that it inspires and motivates the student to embrace it can be worlds apart. The teachers union pretty much guarantees the teacher’s safety, unlike the rest of us, who are promoted or discharged contingent upon our performance.
We are in a recession, and many of us have had to cut back or eliminate many of the perks associated with our professions and options for leisure activities. The medical plan revealed by our school board for their teachers is one that just about anyone I know would die for (not literally): nearly a quarter of district employees have 100% PPO for them and their families, with full dental and optical included and death benefits. How about an HMO (like the rest of us) for the next five years with a deductible from your own pocket?
Before writing this, I made it a point to speak to several teachers who openly noted that the focus has shifted away from the student, to that which benefits the school board and especially the teachers union. No union should be so strong that it dictates to the taxpayers “where and how” their money will be spent.
