MEA should heed 'Queen'
Michigan's schools are under budgetary assault. The state economy teeters. And the message of the teachers' union is raise taxes and protect our prerogatives?
Readers may recall Lansing's teacher contract got hung up on the district asking teachers to pay something toward their insurance premiums. In the private sector, that's not even a debate - taxpayers are just trying to hang onto care (and jobs).
Salters also thought teachers were underpaid. When asked, however, where Michigan's $56,000 average teacher pay would rank, Salters placed it in "the top 10." In fact, Michigan's $56,973 average in 2004-05 was fourth nationally - only $1,500 out of first.
Teaching is a difficult and critical profession. But what the MEA seems to have forgotten is teachers' pay and benefits rest on taxpayers. Many of these same taxpayers can't provide their own families with teacher-quality health benefits or even pay.
At one time, it was common for teachers to get good benefits to make up for poor pay. But times have changed. Teacher pay and bennies look awfully sweet to those struggling to pay for them.
Will the MEA have an epiphany like QEII, or will it keep marching into a growing political storm?
Published May 22, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Melot: MEA should heed 'Queen'Teachers' union better wake up to shifting politics
The leadership of the Michigan Education Association should take a moment and watch "The Queen" - Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth II. Pressed on the question of teacher health benefits - long a budget problem for school districts - Salters said, "I'm not sure our members have benefits that are superior to what's found in the private sector."
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posted by Whitney Tilson at 4:42 PM
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