When the 5-mill levy fails, instead of punishing the students and residents of the district by cutting academic programs or transportation, the board should look into opening the teachers' union contract and making the teachers pay more for their health care.
Right now teachers pay a pittance towards their own health insurance. While we the people are getting crunched with annually increasing health care costs for our own families, we the people are also getting crunched with annually increasing health care costs for the teachers, administrators and their families.
Last year the district paid $6 million for health insurance. The board recently approved a new health insurance contract with a 10% increase in costs. Guess who the costs get passed on to!
Dr. Mantia recently gave a presentation and admitted that 81% of the budget goes to personnel. She justified this as being ''industry standard''.
I say let's stop being average! Let's be leaders in this area of lowering costs for the taxpayers!
The teachers pay almost nothing in premiums, co-pays, medications, deductibles and total out-of-pocket expenses. Wouldn't it be great if we all had a sweetheart deal like that?
I can hear it already - ''We won't be able to recruit quality teachers if we make them pay more!''
However, Reynoldsburg schools, for example, makes the teachers pay more for their health care than Pickerington schools does. And Reynoldsburg still recruits quality teachers.
I think teachers know what a great deal they've had and they know they can't keep it for much longer. Unions in the America are slowly realizing they have to start giving on this issue. Look at the recent concessions of the auto workers union.
Look at it this way - if some teachers leave because the board decided to be more fair to the taxpayers, then they weren't teaching here because they care so much for the students.
But until board members start representing the citizens of this community instead of their offspring teachers, we the people will continue to subsidize teachers' health care to the tune of more and more ''instructional'' levies.
Some board members keep talking about what great businesspeople they are. Well, then, show us. Businesses all across America are passing health care costs onto employees.
Let's see the board members really act like businesspeople.
By We the people
Right now teachers pay a pittance towards their own health insurance. While we the people are getting crunched with annually increasing health care costs for our own families, we the people are also getting crunched with annually increasing health care costs for the teachers, administrators and their families.
Last year the district paid $6 million for health insurance. The board recently approved a new health insurance contract with a 10% increase in costs. Guess who the costs get passed on to!
Dr. Mantia recently gave a presentation and admitted that 81% of the budget goes to personnel. She justified this as being ''industry standard''.
I say let's stop being average! Let's be leaders in this area of lowering costs for the taxpayers!
The teachers pay almost nothing in premiums, co-pays, medications, deductibles and total out-of-pocket expenses. Wouldn't it be great if we all had a sweetheart deal like that?
I can hear it already - ''We won't be able to recruit quality teachers if we make them pay more!''
However, Reynoldsburg schools, for example, makes the teachers pay more for their health care than Pickerington schools does. And Reynoldsburg still recruits quality teachers.
I think teachers know what a great deal they've had and they know they can't keep it for much longer. Unions in the America are slowly realizing they have to start giving on this issue. Look at the recent concessions of the auto workers union.
Look at it this way - if some teachers leave because the board decided to be more fair to the taxpayers, then they weren't teaching here because they care so much for the students.
But until board members start representing the citizens of this community instead of their offspring teachers, we the people will continue to subsidize teachers' health care to the tune of more and more ''instructional'' levies.
Some board members keep talking about what great businesspeople they are. Well, then, show us. Businesses all across America are passing health care costs onto employees.
Let's see the board members really act like businesspeople.
By We the people
