Statement to Kenosha School Board

Good evening. My name is Beth Adelsen. I am a graduate of Kenosha public schools, a Kenosha homeowner and taxpayer, a middle school teacher, and the president of the Kenosha Education Association.

Tonight I speak to you - and the members of my community - on behalf of the Association regarding a pressing issue that this School Board must resolve as soon as possible.

The teacher contract will expire on June 30, 2005. The KEA and the District began contract negotiations last January with the goal of settling the contact in a timely manner in large part so that the District would have honest numbers regarding the contract's impact on its budget.

We at the KEA knew that the rising cost of health insurance and health care would be a pivotal issue, and we began preparing for negotiations with a fiscally responsible approach of analyzing how we could lower the cost of health insurance and provide for greater long-term cost-containment while still maintaining access to quality health care for our community's schoolteachers.

In fact, the KEA has crafted a proposal that addresses all of the District's concerns regarding health insurance.

The most significant savings can be realized by restructuring our current health plan, and by significant, we are talking about millions.

This restructuring includes a wellness program, steerage to less expensive but equally effective prescription medications, and greater steerage to health care providers within hospital networks.

Long-term cost containment is in the best interest of everyone and can only be realized if all of us take ownership and responsibility for our own health care needs.

But we are also a family in this District, and we do care about one another. I represent 1800 of my brothers and sisters in the teaching ranks, hundreds of whom came out tonight to show their support for the settlement of a fair teacher contract.

We want to be sure that the first grade teacher who is diagnosed with breast cancer and the history teacher who needs a heart transplant can receive proper treatment, and our proposal does maintain a quality plan, especially for those rare but catastrophic cases.

We have proposed fiscally responsible and significant changes - changes not made lightly that will - over the long-term - be in the best interests of kids, teachers, and taxpayers.

But this District cannot implement these changes or begin to realize this savings without a settled contract - and the sooner, the better.

The KEA Bargaining Team will be here on Wednesday night, ready to negotiate at the bargaining table. We are prepared to stay all night to get the job done. We hope that you plan to come to the table with the same resolve. We need to settle a fair contract, and we need to do it now.

Thank you.

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Posted April 26, 2005