Freed From Union Insurance Obligations, Wisconsin Schools Can Afford To Teach

You're not going to hear much about this on CNN, NBC, CBS, or ABC, nor will you read about it in the New York Times. That's because it contradicts the narrative that unions are all about protecting the working man. 

Here's the real story: The Wisconsin teacher's union was using its bargaining power to force the state to purchase its own grossly overpriced insurance. Free to purchase insurance on the open market, Wisconsin school districts had gobs of money left over to spend on the children.

The law, bitterly opposed by organized labor in the state and across the nation, limits the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. And it just happens that the Hartland-Lakeside teachers' collective bargaining agreement expired on June 30. So now, freed from the expensive WEA Trust deal, the school district has changed insurers.
 
"It's going to save us about $690,000 in 2011-2012," says Schilling. Insurance costs that had been about $2.5 million a year will now be around $1.8 million. What union leaders said would be a catastrophe will in fact be a boon to teachers and students.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs#ixzz1ZLayLjvS