They are always there when our children need them, but are we always there for them? Kentucky's Teachers are fighting for fair health insurance benefits that will have an effect on all state retirees, including police officers. Please read the editorial below and contact your state representatives to let thim know that our teachers deserve better...
I understand the role The Courier-Journal's editorial board must assume in speaking against a teacher strike, and I appreciate the recognition of the remarkable under-funding of education infused in its editorial yesterday. I want to point out, though, that education employees have been experiencing the same yearly premium increases that you accurately point out everyone else has been experiencing.
Indeed, in recent years we have seen family premiums increase by more than 30 percent, which meant that our share of the premium cost went up by a far greater percentage still, yet you have never heard us call for a strike over that. You point out the average worker's health insurance contribution is $2,661 per year. Well, our family plan premium for an average teacher is increasing by $2,100 per year, and Gov. Ernie Fletcher is imposing an $800 deductible we have never had before, so these costs are increasing by more than what the average employee is paying altogether.
The combination of family premium and $800 deductible for next year will be $8,048 for the average teacher. The cap on prescriptions is being raised from $30 to $100 for each prescription, and prescriptions will no longer count toward our maximum out-of-pocket limits. After reaching the $800 deductible mentioned above, teachers will have to pay 20 percent of their families' expenses instead of the $10 co-pay they now pay.
Yes, health insurance is going up for everyone, but let's look at where we already are. Studies have shown that Kentucky teachers already pay the highest rate in the entire United States for their families' health insurance, while the state's contribution is the second lowest among all 50 states. So I guess you could say that we're just trying to get back to the point where we can complain about our rates going up 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent next year, like everyone else.
I believe the very future of public education in Kentucky rests on our success in this struggle. After all, how can we ever expect to attract and keep excellent teachers if a beginning teacher who earns $29,000 has to pay $8,000 or more per year for his/her family's health care needs, not to mention student loans and college coursework required for their master's degree?
You are right to question whether it is in the interest of children to close schools. My answer to this is that we must look at the long term. I believe most parents and grandparents would agree that their children having a quality teacher for the entire year outweighs what might be lost in one day's instruction.
In January, Gov. Ernie Fletcher shifted an additional $177 million in health insurance costs onto our group, saying he wished he could do better. Well, since then, The C-J has reported that the state's revenue projections have increased by more than $300 million. Fletcher should do the right thing by using this unanticipated revenue to eliminate the $177 million cost shift, and maintain Kentucky's education employees' current level of support, which has been documented as the lowest level in the country. Is that too much to ask?
BRENT McKIM
President
Jefferson County Teachers Association
Louisville 40218