Jersey Zeitgeist on Teacher Healthcare Contributions

“The employee unions are resistant to changes that might mean contributions to health benefits or other cost-containment efforts, as well as looking at the salary settlements and bringing them into line with the current economic situation,” said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The heart of most negotiations is benefits. Most teachers don't pay any health premiums. Many school districts say they should start doing so.

We frankly find it amazing that any teachers out there still believe they should pay no premiums at all, considering everything going on around them in the private and public sectors, and especially in the heart of a national debate on health care reform fueled by high and rising costs.

This shouldn't be so hard: Of course teachers should contribute to their health premiums.

Unfortunately, health benefits are extraordinarily expensive, and there comes a time when businesses and local governments — meaning, of course, taxpayers — simply cannot afford to foot the whole bill, no matter how valuable the worker. That time came long ago for most employers. Until some version of health care reform is enacted on the federal level, teachers must continue to give up a part of their Cadillac plans.

But as admirable as the job of educator may be, the salary increases don't sit right with some taxpayers, who say teachers should have to make greater concessions in the midst of a challenging economic recession
"I understand it's human nature -- if you give me a dollar I want two -- but they've lost touch with reality," said Jerry Cantrell, a former Randolph school board president and head of the New Jersey Taxpayers' Association.