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This column by Beloit Education Association President Tim Vedra was printed Wednesday (December 14, 2005) in the Beloit Daily News.
In his comments in the Tuesday, December 6, issue of the BDN, School District of Beloit board member John Winklemann referred to the teachers' health insurance policy as a “Cadillac.”
Eight years ago our health plan was a “Cadillac.” Then, both bumpers of the “Cadillac” fell off when we were forced to move from an indemnity plan to a PPO plan. This limited our choice of doctors from what we had under the old plan, unless we wanted to pay more money for each service performed. The money saved went from the teachers' right pockets into their left pockets, funding a modest salary increase...no net gain and fewer services.
Next, the spare tire went flat and the brakes started to grind when we were forced to increase our percentage of the premium we pay for insurance to 5%. Soon a three-tier drug card was added with the high end deductible at $25 and the passenger door started sticking, one of the headlights went out and the muffler fell off our “Cadillac.” The Board again took this money out of our right pockets and put it into our left to pay for another very slight pay increase. There was still no net gain for teachers; in fact, with inflation, teachers had less money to spend than when they began making health care concessions.
The “Cadillac's” heater stopped working and the engine started missing on one cylinder the year that we had to take a pay freeze to pay for increased benefit costs. You can still hear it rumble down the streets as our teachers have never been able to recoup that lost salary money. Last year, dental insurance was eliminated as a retirement benefit and a rusty hole appeared in the floorboard of the “Cadillac.”
Our “Cadillac” is still running today, but it backfires, belches smoke, stalls at stoplights, and pulls to the left. Contrary to the popular myth that appears to be perpetuated by at least one school board member, benefits have eroded over the last eight years, and our salaries, already $10,000 to $15,000 behind others in the state with similar education, have not kept pace with inflation.
The School District of Beloit must attract and retain quality teachers if our students are going to achieve to their full potential and if the community hopes to attract new business. Mr. Winklemann knows this will be increasingly difficult with communities like Janesville offering health insurance without any cost to its teachers and a cost-of-living increase. We have already lost quality staff to Janesville and other similar communities because salaries in Beloit do not maintain pace with inflation. The bleeding will continue unless we stop now and settle this contract fairly. The teachers have done their part to help the district through tough times. It's time for the district to return the gesture.
They do have the money; don't let them tell you they don't. The only way our children's future will be mortgaged is if the district does not remain competitive to attract the best of the increasingly fewer teachers being trained or if the Board allows highly trained veteran staff to leave the district in search of fair compensation.
Tim Vedra, president
Beloit Education Association
Beloit Education Association rallies for fair contract settlement
Posted December 15, 2005