Money Policy Entangled in Labor Dispute
Texas Insider Report: Washington D.C. Wisconsin has been at the center of a 2-week pitched political battle since Gov. Scott Walker a Republican elected last fall proposed changes to public workers benefits & job protections. This goes way too far" said Miles Turner of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators which represents superintendents across the state.
Those changes included raising educators required contributions to their pensions and health insurance a proposal the states largest teachers union says it is willing to accept.
But more controversially the governor and leaders of the GOP-controlled legislature have called for curtailing many bargaining rights for teachers and most other public employees a plan that government workers have taken to the streets to oppose.
Gov. Walkers proposal to scale back collective bargaining rights for most public employees in Wisconsin has sparked a rancorous standoff with teachers across the stateand fueled speculation about whether similar plans will gain traction in other parts of the country.
But as massive demonstrations played out in Madisonan estimated 70000 protesters came to the state Capitol one day this weeklocal school officials were questioning one of the core arguments behind the governors proposal: that it will help cash-strapped districts financially in the years ahead.
And while some district officials have voiced support for modifying collective bargaining arrangements they fear the governors plans could create lasting discord in school systems where relations between teachers and administrators have been relatively harmonious.
Teachers have joined demonstrations in Ohio and Indiana over Republican proposals to curb unions collective bargaining power. Numerous other states have taken up similar measures along with other proposals to require teachers to pay more for benefits curb their tenure protections and set limits on how unions can raise money.
Widespread Protests
Teachers unions traditionally have been major contributors to Democratic candidates at the state level. But Republicans gained control of a majority of governors offices and a historic number of state legislative seat last fall. Wisconsin was part of that trend as both state legislative chambers switched from Democratic to GOP control.
Union anger over legislative proposals affecting teachers has erupted in recent weeks in Indiana where Democratic legislators also staged a walkout to
protest Republican-sponsored bills on collective bargaining school vouchers and others issues.
Similar tensions were on display in Ohio where teachers have repeatedly come to the Capitol in Columbus to protest a Republican proposal that would limit collective bargaining. First-year Gov. John Kasich a Republican supports the measure and believes changes in collective bargaining in school districts are necessary a spokesman said as a tool help them control their costs and address their budget issues."
But with the battle in Wisconsin drawing most of the national attention organizations on both sides of that debate agree the outcome there is likely to shape the direction of legislative proposals in other statesand shape public opinion of unions.
Greg W. Mourad the director of legislation for the National Right to Work Committee a Springfield Va.-based organization that supports Gov. Walkers proposal said taxpayer frustration over government spending would continue to put pressure on state officials to curb collective bargaining rights.
People understand that during these tough economic times the public purse cant be as generous as it has in the past" Mr. Mourad said. At the same time he said even if such legislation in Wisconsin and other states is approved unions will still wield considerable power particularly in political campaigns.
All the other things they do now they will still be able to do" he said.
John Wilson the executive director of the National Education Association said the Wisconsin furor had galvanized members of his organization and unified labor groups more broadly.
Our members are absolutely furious" he said. They see this as a suppression of their voice."
And he predicted that the public would be sympathetic to the unions stance in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
The public he said rejects the idea of taking away the rights of people."
Wisconsin Showdown
In Wisconsin Democrats in the state Senate
fled Wisconsin to prevent Republicans who control both legislative chambers from holding a vote on the governors measure.
In the early morning hours on Friday Republicans in the states other legislative chamber the Assembly approved the governors measure over the strong objections of Democrats. But GOP lawmakers have yet to figure out how to break the impasse in the state Senate.
Wisconsin faces a budget shortfall of $137 million for the remainder of the current fiscal year and a projected shortfall of $3.6 billion over the next two years. Gov. Walker has not yet released his biennial budgetit could happen this week but school leaders say theyre bracing for major cuts in state aid based on the signals they have received from the governor and lawmakers.
In announcing his plan the governor pledged to give local governments including school districts the tools to offset what may be reductions in state aid" including changes to collective bargaining rules. Gov. Walker predicted that without making changes to public workers pensions health insurance and negotiating rights state and local governments would have to lay off thousands of workers including teachers.
Some have questioned why we have to reform collective bargaining" he said in a Feb. 22 speech. The answer is simple. The system is broken. It costs taxpayers serious money particularly at the local level."
Plans Details
The governor says his plan would drive down costs for school districts by requiring teachers to pay 5.8 percent of salary toward their pensionsmost of the states 63000 educators pay nothing nowand 12.6 percent of the average cost of health-insurance premiums if they belong to the state health plan.
But the vast majority of the states districts enroll employees in their local health-care plans not the state plan according to the WASB. Because the governors plan would limit collective bargaining to wages unions in those
districts would not be allowed to bargain on health care essentially leaving decisions about which plans to choose in the hands of district leaders by the interpretation of both the WASB and the Wisconsin Education Association Council or WEAC a 98000-member teachers union.
The plan would also prohibit teacher salaries from rising by more each year than the Consumer Price Index without a local voter referendum. Future contracts would be limited to one year and wages would frozen until new contracts were settled.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council an affiliate of the National Education Association has said it would accept the governors plan for higher pension and health-care contributions but not his collective bargaining proposal.
But Gov. Walker has said he will not drop the provision to curb collective bargaining and GOP state lawmakers appear to be backing him up. The governor said his experience as a local government officialhe formerly served as Milwaukee County executiveconvinced him that the states current collective bargaining laws bring higher costs in preventing administrators from trying budget-saving measures such as privatization of services and flexible scheduling of workers.
Savings or Burden?
This week the governors office predicted that his plan would save the states school districts at least $976 million over the next two years. But officials from the school boards and administrators associations were not as optimistic about the financial picture.
The state constitution prevents existing contracts between districts and employees from being broken they point out and so some potential savings would come only after those arrangements had expired. In addition cuts in state aid could disproportionately affect districts with the lowest property wealth per pupil Mr. Rossmiller said.
The school boards and district administrators groups both note that they have lobbied in the past to give the officials they represent more power in bargaining with unions. But they voiced strong reservations about the governors plan.
We have to work with these teachers and with other employees and thats going to be difficult because of this" said Barry Forbes the co-director of employment and labor-law services at the WASB.
If districts and unions could bargain only on wages it would take districts into uncharted territory" he said and create a very problematic work environment."
Daniel A. Nerad the superintendent of the Madison school district also questioned the financial savings projected in the governors plan. It assumes things we just arent comfortable assuming at this point" he said.
Mr. Nerads 25000-student district was forced to call off four days of classes in recent weeks after numerous teachers and other employees did not report to work presumably to protest the governors plan. The superintendent wrote Gov. Walker a letter urging him to negotiate with educators.
While there are problems and changes that need to be made in current collective bargaining laws" his letter says this does not mean that these laws cannot continue to be useful to balance what needs to happen in our communities in order to ensure that children are well educated. The upset for our entire staff that has been created through your proposal does not portend well for our community."
