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Byrum Says
Study Could Undermine Teacher Benefits
Gongwer News Service, July 12, 2005
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A report due
this week on whether the state should set up a system for
teacher health insurance was criticized by House Minority Leader
Dianne Byrum (D-Onondaga) as a "smokescreen" for legislation
that would create such a system and effectively disallow
organizations like the Michigan Education Special Services
Administration.
But Ms. Byrum's comments drew a blistering response from a
Senate Republican spokesperson, who said she was "lying to
promote a political agenda."
The report, commissioned by the Legislative Council from the
Virginia-based Hay Group, is due Wednesday, although it may not
physically be presented to the council until Thursday. The
report was to look at whether a statewide health insurance
system for teachers would be more cost effective than having
districts negotiate health care programs on their own.
While the report was not released, the leaders of the four
legislative caucuses were allowed to review a draft of the
report and comment on it. John Strand, the Legislative Council's
administrator, said the final report could be completely
different from the draft.
An analysis of the draft report, obtained by Gongwer News
Service, said the state could save between $151 million and $277
million if a centralized system of providing teacher health
insurance was created. Local bargaining by teachers would
remain, but not affected would be health insurance benefits, the
analysis says of the report.
But Ms. Byrum said the $285,000 study is designed to justify SB
55 and SB 56, which would set up a statewide insurance system.
Ms. Byrum charged the money could have been better spent on
early-childhood programs or other education related programs
although Republicans noted that Ms. Byrum voted for the
legislation that established the funds for the report - part of
the wide-ranging general government budget bill.
She also said the proposal - if in fact it does call for a
statewide insurance system - would create a new disincentive for
teachers to remain in the profession.
"We should be doing everything we can to attract well-trained,
qualified people to teaching," Ms. Byrum said in a release. But
if SB 55 and SB 56 become law, it will drive people from
teaching and the ones who will suffer are school children.
But Ari Adler, spokesperson to Senate Majority Leader Ken
Sikkema (R-Wyoming) said, "Rep. Byrum's accusations are based on
incomplete information from a draft report that was shared with
her office in confidence. She has set a new standard for
violating the trust of her colleagues and lying to promote a
political agenda."
In response to that, Dan Farough of the House Democrats said,
"Senate Republicans have set a new low in turning teachers into
political punching bags and treating our kids as pawns to
advance an agenda of privatizing local schools and promoting
vouchers."
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