Teachers union refuses to help Pennsylvania school district address $5 million deficit

Union gets annual raise, virtually-free health insurance while residents get higher taxes, class sizes

     The Highlands Education Association’s recent decision to reject a temporary pay freeze that would have helped the Highlands school district dig out of its $5 million budget hole makes it clear that the union cares only about its narrow, financial self-interests.

    The teachers union has just finished the first year of its five-year contract that gives union members an annual pay raise of about 2.6 percent, reports the Valley News Dispatch.

    The HEA’s contract, which can be found at PublicSchoolSpending.com, reveals that members pay a mere $65 a month (totaling $780 a year) toward their health insurance premiums. 

    Perhaps sensing that giving the union a five-year deal was unwise, the Highlands school board appealed to HEA’s better angels, and asked them to accept a temporary wage freeze that would save the district a sizeable amount of money.

    The union refused to consider a temporary wage freeze without extending their current deal by an extra year, a move one school official said wasn’t worth it, reports the Dispatch.

    Essentially, the HEA told the rest of the community to take a flying leap.  

    With annual pay raises, virtually-free health insurance and other contractual perks, the teachers union knows it has a sweet deal and doesn’t want to lose it just to benefit Highlands’ students.

    On the other hand, the five-year teachers’ contract has been a raw deal for local taxpayers. Not only did they see their tax bills increase by two mills, the district’s teaching staff also was cut by 22 teachers.

    It’s very likely this will lead to larger class sizes and fewer academic offerings for Highlands’ students.

    In other words, taxpayers are paying higher taxes for less education, while the union continues to rake it in. Great deal, huh?

    School officials asked the teachers union for a helping hand, but got the back of its hand instead.

    A similar scenario is playing out in Milwaukee where the union is jealously guarding the goodies in its new teachers’ contract, and is unwilling to help stave off cuts that will negatively impact students, not to mention its younger members who end up on the wrong side of seniority job protections.

    Time and again, we see what a destructive force the teacher unions have become in America’s public education system.

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