Informative Q & A about school budget issues - compensation and benefits

These FAQ are posted at the Mamaroneck school district website.  It appears they are from last year's budget period, but many are relevant today.  Here are some selected questions from the

Compensation and Benefits section.

Q:  Please explain the teachers' salary structure, including raises and step increases.

 

A:  The teachers salary structure in Mamaroneck, which has been in place since the first contract in the 1960's, is structured similarly to teacher contracts throughout New York State.  The salary chart is a grid, comprised of a series of rows referred to as "steps," which are tied to teaching experience, and a series of columns referred to as "lanes," which represent levels of education.  New teachers are hired onto a "step" within a "lane," based on experience and education level.

 

Each year, ALL teachers receive the contractual cost of living increase; the current contract provides 3.8% for the 2010-11 school year, a rate that was competitive at the time the contract was settled.  In addition, a teacher progresses by a step each year, until s/he reaches the maximum step on the salary schedule.  If a teacher completes enough additional coursework, the teacher is also eligible to move over a lane. There are lanes for each 15 additional units of credit, from a bachelor's degree through a doctorate. Thus, a teacher can receive an increase for the cost of living, for an additional year of experience, and for additional education.

 

Q:  Why does this structure make sense? 

Bronxville union contract limits health insurance* provider choices to two

According to this report, the Bronxville school district union contract allows for only two possible health insurance* providers, with one of those being an excessively costly option according to the state Comptroller's office.  Why limit choices to only two?

The state Comptroller’s office has released its audit of the Bronxville school’s spending during the 2009-10 school year, finding only one place where money could have been saved: health care.
The audit looked at health insurance benefits from July 1, 2005, through July 31, 2010, and determined the district could have saved about $1 million in the past three years if it had pulled out of a statewide consortium and found a cheaper plan on its own.
The district, in its response, said pulling out of the consortium would have cost $1.2 million in unrecoverable fund balance payments over the past three years and would have violated union contracts, which specifically named the consortium as one of two insurance providers.
However, the district said it would continue to monitor the consortium’s fund balances and demand repayment where applicable, and seek a seat on the consortium’s board of directors to increase oversight. The district also said it would continue to monitor its health care options to make sure it chooses the most cost-effective of the appropriate coverage options.

http://reviewpress.lohudblogs.com/2011/02/23/state-audits-bronxville-schools-healthcare-costs-could-be-less/

* Corrected

Update on health care costs paid by employees

Updated information to my February 21 post.

PERCENTAGE OF HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM COSTS PAID BY EMPLOYEES

Employer category	Percent of premium paid by employee for individual coverage	Percent of premium paid by employee for family coverage
Local school	6.5%	6.5%
Wisconsin public schools	6.3%	6.3%
New York State	10%	25%
Private sector average 2008 *	16%	27%
Private sector average 2010 **	19%	36%

Wisconsin Governor Walker:

However, the difficult reality is that healthcare costs and pension costs have risen dramatically and that has created a benefit system that is simply unsustainable. Government benefits have grown while so many others in the private sector have seen their benefits adjusted in order to protect jobs.

* Kaiser Family Foundation 2008 Survey
**  Kaiser Family Foundation 2010 Survey

Related:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/21/george-will/george-will-says-wisconsin-governors-benefits-prop/

Found at Instapundit

Local school health benefits

If I am reading the contract correctly, our local teachers pay 6.5% of their health insurance premium costs for both individual and family coverage.  In addition, if a teacher opts out of participating in the district health plan, she will receive 20% of the premium amount back as a payment.

New York State employees pay 10% of the premium for individual and 25% for family coverage.  In the private sector, employees on average pay 16% of the premium for individual coverage and 27% for family coverage.  (Source:  The Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits 2008 Survey, page 68)

PERCENTAGE OF HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM COSTS PAID BY EMPLOYEES

Employer	Percent of premium paid by employee for individual coverage	Percent of premium paid by employee for family coverage
Local school	6.5%	6.5%
New York State	10%	25%
Private sector average	16%	27%

2/23/11 UPDATE

ADDED:  Wisconsin teachers pay 6%.

Walker is also doubling the amount state employees pay for their health care benefits, from 6 percent of their premium currently, to 12 percent of their premium.  (From the New York Times)

From our local teacher contract:

A.  HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS

1.  Employer payment under the State Health Insurance Plan will be in the amount of (100%) of an individual policy and (100%) of a family policy.  The District reserves the right to change health insurance to an alternate carrier, provided that there be no diminution in benefits and that service be comparable.  Effective July 1, 2006 bargaining unit members will pay a percentage of the cost of health insurance according to the following schedule:  July1, 2006—5%, July 1, 2007—6%, July 1, 2008—6%, July 1, 2009—6.25% and July 1, 2010—6.5%

2.  Payment to GHI, HIP and Health Maintenance Organization Plan participants will be in a monetary payment equal to the amounts provided by the above amounts.

3.  Effective July 1, 1988 the Board will pay health insurance premiums in the amount of 70% for individual coverage and 50% for family coverage for teachers retiring after July 1, 1987.  Effective July 1, 1990 the Board’s contribution will be limited to the lesser of (a) the proportionate dollar increase in premiums for 1990-91 over 1989-90, or (b) ten percent (10%) above the proportionate dollar increase in premiums for 1990-91 over 2989-90.  The Board’s contribution will revert to the percentage paid prior to the institution of this clause (50% for individual coverage and 35% for family coverage) upon the teacher’s attaining eligibility for coverage under Medicare.

4.  The Board agrees to pay any active teacher eligible for full health insurance benefits, who is already covered by another health insurance plan 20% of the Board’s premium, family or individual, as eligible for each full year the teacher declines coverage under the District’s health insurance program.  Payment will be made at the conclusion of the one year period.

Related:  http://educationquicktakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/cut-new-york-public-schools-health.html

Cut New York public schools health insurance benefits?

From The Torch, a publication of the Empire Center for New York State Policy

Public schools in New York could save $500 million a year, offsetting fully one-third of Governor Cuomo’s proposed cut in K-12 state aid, if they adjusted their health insurance premium-sharing arrangements for teachers to match those for state government employees, according to a Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) analysis cited by Governor Cuomo in his budget presentation.

State government employees are required to kick in 10 percent of the premium for individual health coverage and 25 percent of the premium for family coverage. Including more generous premium coverage that some districts give to senior teachers, 58 percent of the districts met or exceeded the state’s employee share of 10 percent individual coverage, but only four percent required teachers to pay at least 25 percent of family coverage premiums.  Nearly half set the teacher share of family coverage at 10 percent or less. . . .

As the governor pointed out, districts could avoid threatened layoffs and program cutbacks if their teachers carried a bigger share of the health insurance burden. But as Cuomo did not point out, those benefits are subjects of collective bargaining. Districts now have scant leverage to press teacher unions for concessions under the state Taylor Law. (Layoff threats rarely inspire sacrifices.)

It would be a big help to districts if the state repealed the Taylor Law’s so-called Triborough amendment, which mandates that contract terms remain in effect even after a contract has expired, giving unions less incentive to settle.  Cuomo, so far, isn’t going anywhere near Triborough. He has instead punted mandate relief issues to a Redesign Team comprised of “stakeholders” including union representatives, who oppose any change in the status quo.

Sooner or later, the governor has to put up or shut up in this area. Cuomo can’t keep claiming that districts aren’t doing enough to control spending if he isn’t willing to get behind the Taylor Law reform that would give them the tools to help control compensation costs.

In a future post I will look at our local school health insurance costs.