Teachers in Michigan are getting hit from all sides.
Teachers in Pontiac will lose their health insurance because the district used the money paid by the teachers for the general fund to balance the books and didn’t pay the premiums. The insurance company is canceling the policy, and the teachers are suing the district.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Teachers shouldn’t have to sue. This is theft. Where’s law enforcement?
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It occurred to me that if the union wins, it could bring the NEA in to run the district. Would that be a good thing?
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John: Since when has the NEA ever been brought in to run a school district? I’ve been a member for 42 years and have never heard of one such example. What is your source for this contention?
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Fox News????
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OK Obama now would be a good time to speak up.
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Yep, and he would say that they are doing an excellent job in Pontiac!
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In Chicago, Paul Vallas drastically cut the amout that CPS paid to teacher retirement. In 2006, this decision, which allowed Vallas to be credited as not only balancing the budget but also “finding extra money,” blew up, up,up, and Vallas is nowhere around to feel the repercussions.
In 2011, Jeb Bush used Florida teacher pension money to enable financially-failing Edison Schools to go private. No repercussions.
I hope the decision makers in Pontiac, Michigan, who chose to steal teacher insurance contributions in order to claim a “balanced” budget will be brought to justice.
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In New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman had used “extra growth” money in the pension as the State payment. She was long gone before anyone realized what was going on. Several years later the SEC filed charges against NJ but basically said “don’t do it again”.
Now with Gov. Chris Christie, payments were skipped. In a new agreement he is paying 1/7th of the required payment/year for 7 years until in the 7th year total required payment is to be made while teachers payments have increased and their benefits have decreased.
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Is this the district with an, “Emergency Manager”, EM for short? If so, I’m beginning to think “EM” really stands for ’emergency mis-manager’
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I foresee not only law suits, but criminal prosecurtions and jail time for administrators and board members who authorized and carried out these choices.
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Not knowing or understanding Michigan’s state employees benefits, I may be chasing the wrong ambulance here but it would seem to me that the state would intervene and pick up the tab for Pontiac’s teachers since ultimately they are state employees aren’t they? The Pontiac school district would then have to make amends to the state and not the teachers. Will the state allow these teachers to be cheated in this way? Again, I am clueless.
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No, the state will not help. Actually, a few weeks ago our wonderful Governor Snyder signed a bill that allows the state Dept. of Ed and state treasurer to just dissolve financially failing districts. After a decade of funding cuts, of course.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130702/NEWS06/307020105/inkster-buena-vista-schools-district-dissolution
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Thank you for the link. It is a disheartening situation but unfortunately one that is replicated in many places. Unemployment leads to relocation and the areas where unemployment (POVERTY!) is high make for poorly funded public iinstitutions.
The issue in Pontiac seems to me to be a little different in that the school system employees were docked for medical coverage but the funds were mishandled and now the employees are being shafted. This is yet another way to demoralize educators. It is a never ending assault.
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Seriously? Wow. So what happens now? I’m stunned.
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Me too.
I am stunned, puzzled, ashamed of leadership.
Two sides to every story but stealing is stealing. Same as going up to somebody with a gun and demanding their money.
(And then if you fight and they shoot you, it is self defense).
ALEC?
Anarchy Loves Energetic Chaos
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