Teacher Strike A Great Opportunity To Solve Health Care Costs

strike

By Dave Chase

The impact out-of-control healthcare costs has been devastating to school funding. Have you ever wondered why class sizes have increased, after school programs have been cut and most teachers haven’t received a raise since 2000 (adjusting for inflation)?

It is directly linked to healthcare as the graphic below demonstrates. In “Teacher Unions On Wrong Side Of Negotiating Table,” I included more disturbing datapoints from Bill Gates’s TED Talk about how healthcare is devastating education.

That article also includes links to how the math simply can’t work without tackling health benefits in a fundamentally different manner.

Even in a state where 30 of the 50 most expensive hospitals reside, it’s been shown that it’s possible to have fair pay, a fantastic benefits package, and spend 50% less on benefits than the average employer.

See article here:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davechase/2015/09/09/seattle-teacher-strike-a-great-opportunity-to-solve-longstanding-problem/