Nebraska teachers unions want to steal insurance savings that would help cash-strapped schools

By Victor Skinner
EAG Communications

IMPERIAL, Neb. –  Education Health Alliance, the health insurance provider for most Nebraska school employees, decided earlier this year to schedule a premium holiday for December because payments to the plan have outpaced claims.

That was welcome financial news for cash-strapped Nebraska schools that are struggling to provide benefits for employees while still meeting the needs of students.

Unfortunately teachers union bosses across the Cornhusker state suddenly have dollar signs dancing in their heads. Instead of allowing school districts to accept the insurance break and apply it to their overstretched budgets, or give taxpayers a break, they want the money to be dispersed among employees.

At a recent Chase County school board meeting, school secretary Rhoda Hickman spoke out against union leaders who are pressuring the district to translate the health insurance savings into bonuses for union members.

“You sound like a bunch of greedy people,” she said.

Many parents and taxpayers agree with Hickman. It’s bad enough that teachers unions across America continue to demand expensive benefits and perks that cost schools millions when they can least afford it. Now when a shred of financial relief appears on the horizon, the unions want to steal at least part of it from the schools.

In Chase County schools, union reps with the Imperial Education Association want a cut of the district’s insurance savings in the form of a stipend, even though teachers contribute nothing toward their monthly insurance premiums.

Chase County school board members, who are currently asking taxpayers for a budget increase of $513,000 over last year, have other, more logical ideas for the savings.

“In my opinion, I’d give it back to the taxpayers,” board member Karl Meeske said, according to the Imperial Republican newspaper.

“I’ve said it several times. ‘When do we get to vote to save some taxpayer money?’” Dan Reeves, another board member, said at a recent board meeting.

Russ Pankonin, publisher of the Imperial Republican, sided with board members in a recent editoria.

“Not only does the school pay in full for a single (employee insurance) policy, they do it for spouse and family policies as well. I almost guarantee there’s not a job in town with that benefit,” Pankonin wrote. “If insurance premiums increased after (contract) negotiations were complete, would those same teachers be willing to pay that difference?

“For the new budget year, the school requested an additional $513,000 in taxes over last year,” he wrote. “The prudent action for the board would be to return the money to the general fund and reduce the tax request accordingly next year; or, amend this year’s budget to keep that money in the hands of taxpayers this year.”

Pankonin told EAG that he’s “had a lot of comments from citizens on this particular editorial that ‘Hey, you hit the nail on the head.’”

Chase County Superintendent Matt Fisher told EAG that local taxpayers have been forced to accept annual tax increases in recent years to cover reduced education funding from the state. That means recession-battered taxpayers keep forking out more money to keep up with the rising cost of union-negotiated employee benefits.

Fisher said the district has had a positive relationship with its local teachers union, and he suspects that the stipend request is the result of pressure from the statewide union, the Nebraska State Education Association.

“Part of it, I think, is pressure from the state teachers association that as teachers, you have to go after this money, it’s your money,” Fisher said. “It’s hard to tell sometimes what motivates these people.”

Union greed at the state level

EHA, the insurance company, required both a union representative and school administrator to sign off in order for any district to receive the insurance rate holiday, but didn’t stipulate how the money should be spent. It’s up to schools and their unions to decide.

The state teachers union is seizing the opportunity to make a quick buck.

“Before signing the EHA approval form … it is critical that the local association president and/or negotiations team chair contact the NSEA and speak with a UniServ director. There are aspects of the premium holiday that could be of benefit to NSEA members,” the teachers union said in a statement. “Those options are best discussed one-on-one with a UniServ director. Again, it is critical that the president and/or the local association’s chief negotiator contact the NSEA before signing the premium holiday approval form.”

Why does the NSEA want its local union negotiators to call before signing? The NSEA spelled it out in a “Frequently Asked Questions” post on its website. It quickly becomes clear that the union expects its local associations to wrestle the savings away through collective bargaining, even though some schools don’t even require employees to contribute toward their insurance costs.

In other words, many local unions will be bargaining for a rebate on something they never paid for in the first place.

“Can bargaining units negotiate for the savings?,” the union Q and A asked.

“Yes. Negotiators should discuss premium savings with the board negotiating team as soon as possible. The 1/12th (over 8%) reduction in EHA premiums for the 2011-12 contract year will mean the cost of benefits negotiated will be lower. That means more district … funds are available for salaries – to maintain jobs and provide reasonable increases in salaries.”

“There is a strong argument that all of the premium holiday savings attributable to bargaining unit members should go back into salary compensation for bargaining unit members.”

In Chase County, officials have yet to resolve the issue, with the subject slated for additional discussion at the November school board meeting. Each Nebraska school district seems to be handling the situation differently, Fisher said, although he believes that school boards have the final say about what to do with the savings.

“Some districts have given all of the money … to teachers, some have given part of the money back, some have kept it all,” Fisher said. “The legal opinions we’ve seen says the board would have the ultimate decision on where that money will go.”

At least one teachers union apparently demanded and received the money, but luckily put it to good use. In Mead County Public Schools, teachers used the insurance savings to purchase textbooks for students.

While that type of generosity is heartwarming, we have to wonder why the teachers union was given the authority to decide how to spend the insurance savings. After all, taxpayers fund the district and would presumably be required to cover the cost of any insurance rate increase. So why didn’t taxpayers, or at least their elected school board, decide how to use the extra money?

Unfortunately, the district didn’t return our messages when we tried to find answers for these questions.

School and union officials had to return their signed forms by Nov. 1 to receive the rate holiday. How local schools and their unions decide to spend the savings will say a lot about their priorities, and will provide taxpayers with a unique look at the dynamics of school spending and the incredible power of self-serving teachers unions.