State Report

January 2005

Pension Plan Faces Assault

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich has proposed balancing the state budget by shifting the cost of teacher pension funding to local governments. Members of the Maryland State Teachers Association (MSTA) know this burden could force counties to cut services or drop out of the state pension system—replacing it with a "defined-contribution" scheme that shifts funding and investment risk to individual educators.

In response, MSTA members have sent nearly 1,000 letters to the governor and legislators. Teachers and MSTA lobbyists are also contacting lawmakers to educate them on the repercussions of this funding shift. Stay tuned.

Georgians Sue for Funding

Georgia The Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) voiced strong support for a school funding "adequacy and equity" suit filed against the state school board and superintendent by the Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia. The plaintiffs are seeking sufficient state funding and an adjustment in funding formulas to ensure adequate programs for diverse student populations.

The bigger issue here is allocation of existing funds, stressed Merchuria Chase Williams, the GAE president. "We need to ask whether we are raising enough [tax] revenue to adequately fund education. The state should provide additional resources for school systems that don't have the revenue."

Don't Mess with Class Sizes!

Texas On the heels of a suit filed by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) and the Texas Federation of Teachers (TFT), the state education commissioner has rescinded a letter creating rules enabling districts to evade the state's class size limit in grades K–4, now a student to teacher ratio of 22–1. But this proposal may surface again through the formal rule-making process. TSTA and TFT are prepared, if necessary, to fight the move through legal action—while TSTA plans to file legislation to tighten up the class size waiver process.  

Lower Regard for Higher Ed

Massachusetts The news was not good last fall. On September 17, Governor Mitt Romney vetoed funding for retroactive pay owed to 13,000 public higher education employees and for 1 percent raises bargained by state community college faculty and professional staff, who have gone without raises for two years. In response, higher education employees staged a statewide "Day of Outrage" on September 29, with picketing, marches, and protest letters to state officials.

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Catherine A. Boudreau says that higher ed contracts were bargained in good faith and that legislators included funding for them in the budget—but then Romney showed "tremendous disrespect" for staff and "disregard for the state of our higher education system" through his vetoes.

Will Patience Pay Off?

Alabama In its new fiscal year, the state projects significant growth in tax revenue. That hasn't escaped the notice of Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert.

Teachers and ESPs "have been patient about raises for the last five years while the state has endured a recession," he said. "Things are turning for the better economically, and we expect the legislature and the governor to be as giving with new growth as they have been 'stingy' when times were hard."

Don't Take Without Talking

Minnesota A judge ruled that the  West St. Paul district acted illegally when it unilaterally reduced teachers' health insurance benefits last year without bargaining with the West St. Paul Federation of Teachers. This decision put districts across the state "on notice that they cannot unilaterally deal with health costs by shifting the burden to employees," says Education Minnesota General Counsel Harley Ogata. "They must negotiate with the union."

Everybody in the Pool!

Montana MEA-MFT has developed a health insurance plan for K–12 school employees and retirees and is working with other education groups to make this statewide pool a reality in the 2005 legislature. The proposed law would encourage school employers, through a state-funded credit, to participate. Once a district joined, all certified and ESP employees working 30-plus hours a week (or fewer hours if stated by contract) would be entitled to annually select coverage at one of three levels, from "basic" to "preferred."

Through the efficiencies of a statewide pool, projected premiums of all existing school health plans would be less "volatile" and cost less, stresses MEA-MFT. It always pays to buy in bulk.

A Cleaner Way To Clean Up

New Jersey With support from the New Jersey Education Association and the New Jersey Work Environmental Council, teacher and ESP locals have won safe asbestos removal at Bergen County's Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills high schools. A local health and safety committee worked with management to identify danger spots, ensured removal of staff from abatement areas, and closely monitored the clean-up.