by Donna Gundle-Krieg February 9, 2009
Note: to comment on this story or other stories about education in Michigan, please go to Examiner.com
Long and bitter teacher contract negotiations finally came to an end in one Michigan school district. A deal was reached after secret emails were recently released showing that union leaders used district email to plan for an illegal teacher strike last fall.
The illegal strike divided the educational community of Wayne-Westland, as there were reports of teachers “turning against” their fellow teachers who crossed the picket line. In addition, the union was attempting a recall campaign against school board members who did not support their efforts to keep union owned health insurance, which costs taxpayers $15,772.92 per family.
“The parents and other residents of the Wayne-Westland school district were seriously duped, particularly those who circulated recall petitions against two school board members based on false pretenses,” said Kyle Olsen, vice president of the Education Action Group.
Olsen explained that the teachers union used the class size issue to gain the sympathy of residents who were rightfully concerned about quality of instruction.
“The new teachers contract does address class size, but to such a small degree that it makes the union’s claims laughable,” he said.
Olsen believes that the teachers were more concerned about maintaining their expensive MESSA insurance coverage, which was a top priority for the W-WEA’s parent organization, the Michigan Education Association.
WESTLAND, Mich. - Teachers agreed to health care concessions while the school district agreed to raises and smaller class sizes in a newly ratified contact in Wayne-Westland Community Schools, The Detroit News reported.
Teachers will pay a $400 or $200 deductible for a family or individual health plan, respectively, according to The News, as well as office visit and emergency room co-pays. Class size will be reduced by one student at all levels beginning next year, and teachers will receive a 1.75 percent wage increase this year followed by 1.5 percent in each of the three remaining years of the four-year agreement, The News reported.
The contract also includes a no-strike, no-lockout provision, according to The News. A letter of reprimand will be placed in the personnel files of teachers who participated in a four-day walkout in October, Superintendent Greg Baracy told The News, but the district will not attempt to prosecute them under Michigan law making teacher strikes illegal.
So it really wasn’t about class size, after all
From the Education Action Group
The parents and other residents of the Wayne-Westland school district were seriously duped, particularly those who circulated recall petitions against two school board members based on false pretenses.
The Wayne Westland Education Association has insisted that a major sticking point in its contract negotiations with the school board was class size. The teachers union used the issue to gain the sympathy of residents who were rightfully concerned about quality of instruction.
But it really wasn’t much of an issue for the teachers at all. For proof, look at their newly ratified four-year labor contract with the Wayne-Westland school board.
The teachers will get a 1.75 percent salary increase retroactive to last fall and a 1.5 percent increase for the next three years.
They also get to maintain their expensive MESSA insurance coverage, which was a top priority for the W-WEA’s parent organization, the Michigan Education Association. Remember, MESSA is an insurance carrier owned and operated by the MEA, and transfers millions of dollars in excess earnings to the teachers union each year.
The new teachers contract does address class size, but to such a small degree that it makes the union’s claims laughable. For instance, gym classes will be reduced from 40 to 39 students, science lab classes will be reduced by two students and classes in grades 4-12 will eventually be reduced by one student.
After months of contentious bargaining, is that all the change the public gets?
To add insult to injury, the union leaders quickly turned against the residents they manipulated into circulating recall petitions. After hosting the recall organization meeting at WWEA headquarters last fall, on Tuesday the union issued a statement saying it “will not and does not support the recall.”
As one parent put it, “While I knew that class size was a talking point to rile up parents, I thought the union would do more than they did. I hope my fellow parents realize they were duped.”
Or as school board treasurer Steve Becher, a former W-WEA teacher put it, “There’s no real difference in class size. A great deal was brought to this community over class sizes, but you didn’t address them. . .You got what you wanted. You kept the money and your health care, that’s what you wanted. I think you won.”
The taxpayers and students were the losers. Hopefully some lessons were learned.
Kyle Olsen; vice president Education Action Group; Muskegon, MI
Also from the Education Action Group:
In a recently published story regarding the labor situation in the Wayne Wayne-Westland school district, Michigan Education Association spokeswoman Rosemary Carey made one serious - but very telling - slip of the tongue.
She told the newspaper that I, Kyle Olson, vice president of the Education Action Group, am guilty of “trying to insert himself into a situation that, as a Muskegon resident, does not affect him.”
Quite the contrary, Rosemary Carey. Everything related to public education, in every Michigan school district, is the business of every Michigan resident. Every state resident that pays taxes or purchases cigarettes, alcohol or lottery tickets contributes money to the state’s education fund, and money from that fund is allocated to every public school district in the state, Wayne-Westland included.
Would Gov. Granholm tell me, a property owner and taxpayer, that issues affecting Michigan schools outside of my immediate district are none of my business? Would she tell me that I couldn’t possibly be “affected” by the type of education that kids receive outside of Muskegon? I don’t think so, and I doubt Ms. Carey does, either.
That would be like Ms. Carey telling a business owner from Saginaw that he should only be interested in the quality of education offered to children in Saginaw, because that’s who he’s going to employ in the future. What happens if a Wayne-Westland kid graduates, moves to Saginaw and secures a job with that business owner? That employer is then “affected” by the quality of education that the Wayne-Westland grad received.
When it comes to public education in Michigan, we’re all in this together, regardless of school district boundaries. It’s not the exclusive domain of the Michigan Education Association, and don’t let the state’s largest teachers union tell you otherwise.
But when you consider the source, Ms. Carey’s comments do make sense. After all, the MEA has been using a divide and conquer strategy for the past several years, as it tries to force its greedy agenda on school boards across the state, one district at a time.
The union doesn’t want people in neighboring districts to notice when it tries to impose expensive MESSA insurance coverage on individual school boards, then starts recall campaigns against board members who want to shop for less expensive coverage.
The union loves MESSA because it owns and operates MESSA, and gets millions of dollars worth of kickbacks from MESSA every year. .
In the Jan. 29 story, Ms. Carey also talks about how I ignore the “savings that MESSA would bring.” If MESSA insurance is such a good financial deal for schools, how come school boards across the state, desperate to save dwindling dollars for classroom activities, have been fighting to dump it?
School boards in St. Clair Shores Lakeview and Centreville dumped MESSA a few years ago and reported six- and seven-figure savings. The Waterford school district has saved $550,000 in just two months since switching to a different insurance carrier. The school board in Three Rivers is in the process of dumping MESSA right how, and the Caseville district may soon follow suit.
Whether Ms. Carey and her bosses like it or not, I will continue to warn the taxpayers of Michigan about the teachers union, its greedy agenda and slimy recall tactics. I am a taxpayer, parent and resident of this state, and I’m making it my business.
Return to blitzkriegpublishing.com home page