GUNN: Greed, not need

OPINION:

Leaders of the National Education Assocation and American Federation of Teachers have been lobbying fever-

ishly in the nation’s capital to pass the $23 billion “Education Jobs Fund,” which has been passed by the House and is currently in a Senate committee.

Not surprisingly, the money in Sen. Tom Harkin’s bill would be set aside for school labor costs, and labor costs alone.

The unions’ incentive, of course, is to get the federal government to cough up billions of dollars to save the jobs of low-seniority teachers and other school employees, without older employees having to give up a single penny in salary or benefits.

We at the Education Action Group Foundation have been studying local teachers’ collective bargaining agreements in several states. We’ve discovered many common provisions in these documents that force schools to spend millions of dollars that they wouldn’t otherwise think of spending during a financial emergency.

Nearly every contract we studied calls for automatic, annual salary increases for teachers, 15-20 paid sick and personal days for teachers every year, generous buyout plans of unused sick days, expensive health insurance funded almost completely by schools, paid leave time for teachers to conduct union business, “overage” pay for teachers with an extra kid or two in their classrooms, and many other perks.

But when school boards across the nation have asked their local unions to renegotiate the more expensive provisions in their contracts, in most cases they are flatly declined. The Sacramento and Chicago districts are perfect examples. The unions want taxpayers to pick up the tab so they won’t have to sacrifice a dime.

Congress, faced with a $14 trillion national debt, should not reward the unions for their greediness. And greed is the correct word. Not only would the money from this legislation get teachers off the hook when it comes to concessions, it would fill union coffers with dues money that would not otherwise be paid by laid-off school employees.

According to one estimate, the NEA would collect about $18.2 million in dues from school employees whose jobs would be saved. The AFT would make about $6.9 million. Those figures may be tiny compared to the recent bank and corporate bailouts, but they still represent a financial windfall for two organizations that don’t deserve it.

We wonder if the unions would support this bill if it stipulated that teachers who are paid with emergency federal dollars will not pay union dues. We doubt it very much.

The legislation would also perpetuate the foolish practice of keeping union custodians, bus drivers, cooks and other support personnel on the payroll. Schools can have those services provided just as well by private contracting companies at a fraction of what it costs to pay union support staff. At a time when every penny is needed in the classroom, privatization of non-educational support services is a must.

All of this reminds us of an online NEA video supporting the legislation. It’s called “The issue is JOBS,” and the title says a great deal about the true nature of the teachers’ unions. The unions’ only goal is to keep as many teachers and other school employees on the payroll as possible. They really don’t care if Johnny can’t read, as long as the custodians remain employed and keep paying union dues.

We would argue that schools are for children, and are not employment agencies. And our schools are broke right now, making overpriced labor a luxury they can’t afford, period.

We would encourage everyone reading this to contact their elected representatives in Washington and urge them to oppose this wasteful and unnecessary legislation.

Steve Gunn is communications director for the Education Action Group Foundation, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization that advocates for public school reforms.