RH Jones: The OSBA Statement Concerning Worker HC/Rx

ORC 3307.15 - not just a wish,
IT'S THE LAW!

----- Original Message -----

From: RHandJMJONES@cs.com

To: CathyB1@aol.com ; curryjo@watchtv.net
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 3:16 PM
Subject:

To all:

The Associated Press writer, Dee-Ann Durbin, recently reported that hourly workers at General Motors proposed an agreement that will cause GM retirees to pay up to $752 annually for families and $70 for individuals. Right now GM retirees pay no monthly premiums and a small fraction of other health care costs. The agreement requires GM hourly workers to contribute $1 per hour in future pay increases to a new fund to help pay retirees' coverage.

As you may have observed, we college trained STRS OH retirees pay now much more than the GM hourly laborer. In talking to my nephew who build cars at a GM plant, he indicated that their are many workers who are in the over $100,000 a year bracket. How many teachers do you know in this bracket? Damn few public school administrators make this much. Comparing the "supers"of education to the "supers" in industry, you will find industry pays their execs far, far, greater.

By nature, teachers a gentle folk. This has allowed school districts to get away with underfunding education. In the meantime they insist on having "local control" which results in the extreme number of public school districts here in OH. Everyone knows that this causes costly duplications, especially in administration, school board member stipends, non-teaching staffing, supplies, utilities, and office buildings. Because of this, children deserve better. Teachers deserve better. This is all done at the expense of fair professional educator pay. How many children set in hot classrooms, while the boards of education enjoy air conditioning?

Additionally, most school boards play the "Good old Boy/Girl" syndrome and turn a "blind eye' and a wink at taking public education funds to pay for Charter schools. Fair and ethical competition in education is not frowned on by public educators; paying our tax money into private for profit education profiteers is. Studies show the negative consequences of taking this money away from the public school districts. Consequently, the time now come for the employer and employees to back legislation for an increase in contribution to the STRS. A steady stream of proper funding for teacher HC/Rx is sorely needed. After the above neglect, a reasonable person should back legislation to right this wrong. Failure of this legislation would cause severe underfunding of the STRS HC/Rx funding; therefore, stimulating active/retired teachers to insist that ALL those state employees, who are associated with education in Ohio, pay into STRS, not PERS.


RHJones