Education Week 3/02/2011 issue

Money, Public Policy Tangled in Wisconsin Labor Feud, p. 1

Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to cut back collective bargaining rights for most public employees has sparked a feud with teachers throughout the state.  Walker says that his proposal will help financially-strapped school districts by saving money to help offset upcoming reductions in state aid.  Wisconsin faces a $3.6 billion shortfall over the next two years.  His plan would require public employees to contribute more to their pensions and health care, so pension and health-care costs for school districts would be likely to decrease.  A more controversial part of his plan would limit unions’ collective bargaining to wages only, excluding benefits such as health care from these negotiations.

Local school administrators have questioned whether Scott’s proposals will in fact save them money in the years ahead.  If they do save them money in personnel expenses , thesesavings are unlikely to be enough to cover cuts in state aid.  They feel that such an approach will promote discord between teachers and school administrators, who often enjoy amicable relationships.

There is concern that Scott’s approach will spread to other states who find themselves in a similar budget crunch.  Ohio is considering proposals that would also limit collective bargaining in areas such as school assignments, class size.  It is also considering teacher pay based on merit and forbidding the exculsive use of seniority in determining teacher layoffs.  The feud in Wisconsin, with teachers staging a sit-in at the state capitol, has galvanized teachers’ unions  in other states.  More to come.

[A politic sidebar:  police and firefighters were excluded from the proposed changes.  Coincidentally, they were contributors to Walker’s gubernatorial campaign.]