Teachers and parents in Ann Arbor, Michigan, rallied ahead of a school board meeting at the end of October to protest a proposed hike in their out-of-pocket healthcare costs next year, Satvika Ramanathan reports in the student newspaper at Huron High School.
Students at Skyline High School (district website)The protest included signs emphasizing the teachers’ desire to remain in Ann Arbor, but their message warned that they are looking at teaching opportunities in other districts. Their costs for health insurance are expected to nearly double beginning in January, depending on the plan they choose and the number of people covered.
The average cost for premiums is slated to go up a few hundred dollars per paycheck, according to Fred Klein, Ann Arbor Education Association teachers union president, MLive reported. For example, teachers enrolled in the Priority Health HMO plan would see an annual increase of $3,440, a little under $300 a month, for a total annual premium of $10,308.
“What we are doing [at the rally] is letting our voice be heard and trying to [tell] the district, ‘You need to do something,’ because, as it stands right now, a lot of us can’t afford to work here,” the student newspaper quoted union representative Sarah Anton as saying.
Under Michigan law, “what the district can do” is limited, MLive noted in its report. Michigan’s Public Act 152, adopted 13 years ago, limits the amount public employers, such as school districts, can pay toward employee medical benefit plans.
Teachers can’t change the rates coming from healthcare providers, but they’re negotiating new contracts now, hoping the district can contribute more toward their premiums. That might not be possible, though, given the district’s $25 million budget shortfall and teacher layoffs last spring, CBS News reported.
“When you think about it, a new teacher who starts at $45,000 in January, they’re going to be paying $10,000 out of pocket for the HMO, they’re going to pay just over $9,000 for the PPO, that’s 20-25% of their take-home pay,” CBS Detroit quoted Mr Klein as saying. “That’s just unsustainable.”
One Huron High School teacher’s annual health insurance premium is projected to go up by about $5,000 once the increase takes effect.
“That’s 2.5 months of daycare, it’s a mortgage payment, it’s a lot,” the student newspaper quoted her as saying. “I’m feeling incredibly disappointed after the [layoffs] last year and the emotional drain we’re going through again. It’s just scary. I want to teach. I want to be in Ann Arbor. I wanted to retire from Ann Arbor Schools, but Ann Arbor is making it really hard to do that.”
Also in Ann Arbor Public Schools, more than 80 high school students are involved in Skyline High School’s production of The Wizard of Oz, directed by Skyline staff member Brodie Brockie and produced by Skyline drama teacher Anne Marie Roberts. The musical opens Friday, November 15 and runs through Sunday, November 17.
