Boardbuzz

Health care costs and teacher contracts

Here is a good case study of a major issue facing school boards and teachers: the ballooning costs of health insurance. One school district in New Jersey saw its health insurance premiums double in recent years. And that fact alone is severely impacting negotiations for a new teacher’s contract. “Since 1999, three quarters of the school districts have had some kind of cost control negotiated,” Frank Belluscio, director of the public information department at the New Jersey School Boards Association, told the Bergen Record. “It’s not unusual to see this as one of the major issues at the bargaining table now.” Even when teachers agree to contribute, the issue remains contentious. And the numbers are staggering. The issue bumps up against several larger issues, including how public education is paid for to begin with.

admin|November 2nd, 2004|Categories: Boardbuzz, Governance|

Comments are closed.