Bailing Out Teachers
Democrats on Capitol Hill are literally taking food out of the mouths of the most needy to pay back their political cronies. For public employee unions, this is payback for their extensive support of Democratic politicians.
By F. Vincent Vernuccio at American Spectator
Democrats on Capitol Hill are literally taking food out of the mouths of the most needy to pay back their political cronies. Today, the House will vote on the infamous Bill with No Name, H.R. 1586 (originally the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act), which contains a $26.1 billion bailout for financially strapped state governments. Much of the money will go to public employee unions, in the form of a $10 billion “Education Jobs Fund” to supplement state education costs. This comes on top of a $53.5 billion bailout of unionized teachers in the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund — some of which is still unspent. Worse, the new legislation would impose $9.7 billion in permanent tax increases.
The failing economy is not the only reason school districts are seeing shortfalls. The Wall Street Journal reports that school district spending has been out of control for at least a decade and is far out of sync with enrollment growth. As the Journal notes, “total education spending grew by 32% percent between 1999 and 2009, while K-12 enrollment has grown by less that 1% each year over the same time period.”
In some cases, unions have prevented state and local governments from making needed cuts in their budgets. For example, earlier this year the Milwaukee School Board announced that it was laying off 428 teachers due to budget shortfalls. The average Milwaukee teacher receives only $56,000 per year in salary, but also gets a generous $40,000 in benefits, including a health care plan that costs $26,000 per family, compared to $14,500 for private employees. The school board sought to cut costs and to keep the teachers by implementing cuts in benefits. A proposed health care plan would have instituted co-pays expected to yield $47.2 million in savings, more than enough to save every teacher’s job. The union refused to bargain, instead opting for layoffs.
FULL STORY
Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere:
