At his weekly press conference Wednesday, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott made it plainer than he ever has before: He wants uniformity in health care benefits for public school teachers throughout the state. He insisted such a standard is the only way to maximize savings for taxpayers, which he continues to identify as $26 million.
“I don’t know how you [ensure maximum] savings by ignoring the fact that everyone’s getting something different,” he said. “I just think that having all of the uniformity, of having the health care plans the same … that’s essential.”
Scott formally proposed centralizing negotiations for teacher health insurance in late April. The majority-Democrat legislature objected to removing health care from local bargaining between school boards and teachers, and proposed a number of mechanisms designed to save money without changing the collective bargaining process. The Vermont-National Education Association has lobbied strongly against any restrictions on bargaining.
The standoff remained unresolved after more than two weeks of discussions between administration and legislature. In the end, lawmakers passed their own budget and teacher health care plans. On Wednesday, the Republican governor repeated his promise to veto both bills when they reach his desk.
Scott claimed to have an open mind on the subject. “Maybe there’s a different approach. I’m willing to listen to anything,” he said. But whatever that approach might be, he insists that it achieve uniformity in teacher health care.
“We don’t have to have government to do this,” he said. “What we need is the NEA and the school boards association to get together and determine what they would put in place. If they could agree on a solution that had the same plan, we could do this without legislative approval.”
And if wishes and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a wonderful Christmas. The chance of the Vermont-NEA agreeing to negotiate statewide health care benefits with the Vermont School Boards Association is precisely zero, and Scott has to know that. He’s just trying to make himself appear reasonable.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) isn’t buying it. “If you’re going to ask for statewide uniformity, it’s dictating the terms of local agreements,” she said.
From all appearances, no ground has been given since the legislature adjourned on May 19. The two sides are even telling different stories about efforts to return to the table.
“They did, I think it was about 4:30 on Friday afternoon, they reached out,” Scott said. “We’re going to respond to them in writing and set some guidelines as to how I think this negotiation should work.”
Not so fast, said Johnson.
“We were supposed to have a meeting yesterday afternoon, which they canceled,” she said. “And we were in the process of scheduling one for tomorrow afternoon when I started getting information about [the governor’s] press conference.
“We’re willing to sit down and talk to try to work something out,” Johnson continued. “The fact that he canceled a discussion with us and instead chose to have a press conference is pretty frustrating.”
In fairness to the governor, this was a scheduled weekly press conference, not one specifically convened to discuss the health care issue. However, in fairness to Johnson, the governor did choose to address the issue at length on Wednesday, and made it clear that he sees the legislature as responsible for injecting politics into the situation.
If anything, Scott’s performance showed that he is equally responsible for the political nature of the debate.
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@ Philo
“You really have no idea what a teacher does and how he/she is compensated. It’s apparent from these words.”
That’s not an argument. That’s a self-declaration without evidence or context that you know more because you say so.
@ Greenberg
You made the assertion (without citing any sources) that teacher pay is comparable to pay for other Vermonters with a college degree. I pointed out that you’re comparing apples to oranges because the teacher job is a 9-month job with free health care, many weeks off during the 9-month year, and a guaranteed pension for life upon retirement. They are way better compensated than the average BA employee who makes the same or similar salary but works 12 months, gets a week or two of vacation (maybe), pays for his or her own health care insurance (if it’s available), and has no retirement fund. The statistics you just cited still compare apples to oranges.
“Knowyourassumptions;”
I agree with “Mt. Philo;” your comment shows that clearly don’t know anything about how teachers work..
That said, here are 2 sources of data for you. 1) Data on Vermont salaries in general: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/State=… 2) Data on VT teachers: http://www.teachingdegree.org/vermontsalar…. I’m sure there are better sources available if you look for them.
You’re the one with an assertion to support here, since apparently you believe that teachers’ pay is disproportionate to other Vermonters with the same level of education and experience, Please provide the data.to support your assertion. A glance at the two sources I provided certainly doesn’t offer any support for your thesis.
“Please provide your plan for turning Vermont into a high-paying employment mecca so we all earn at least what the teachers union has bullied out of us.”
I am not the governor. Elected officials need to lead the way here. Frankly, I lack the funds to run for office.
“…average Vermont employee with a BA earns $53,000+ for 9 months worth of work; and gets the summer off; and gets several weeks of vacation during the 9 months of the work year; and gets free health care; and gets a guaranteed pension; and is automatically enrolled in a union”
You really have no idea what a teacher does and how he/she is compensated. It’s apparent from these words.
Greenberg, please provide reliable data/statistics showing that the average Vermont employee with a BA earns $53,000+ for 9 months worth of work; and gets the summer off; and gets several weeks of vacation during the 9 months of the work year; and gets free health care; and gets a guaranteed pension; and is automatically enrolled in a union. Thanks.
Knowyourassumptions:
You reject the comparison of VT teachers’ pay to national statistics, although it IS relevant (teachers could opt to move to other states if the pay disparity were large enough).
You then compare teacher pay to per capita income, without making any distinction for education level. All Vermont teachers have at least a BA degree; that is, of course, not at all true of all Vermont workers. It is an economic commonplace that workers with college degrees earn significantly more than those without.
Consequently, the reasonable comparison is between teachers and others with comparable education levels. When you make that comparison, you’ll find that teachers are well within similar bounds.
“The answer then is to provide jobs that allow the rest of Vermonter to earn an excellent salary, not tear everyone down so all is equal.”
Nice try. That’s a bumper-sticker worthy sentiment, not a plan. “Then let them eat cake.”
Please provide your plan for turning Vermont into a high-paying employment mecca so we all earn at least what the teachers union has bullied out of us. The very same faction in the legislature that is owned by the VTNEA has spent the last few decades making sure that we root out all forms of economic activity in VT wherever it rears its ugly head. So what’s your plan?
The answer then is to provide jobs that allow the rest of Vermonter to earn an excellent salary, not tear everyone down so all is equal.
@ Philo
Your use of statistics is misleading.
We’re not talking about how teacher pay in Vermont ranks nationally. We’re talking how does the average teacher’s salary in Vermont ($53k) compare to the income of the average Vermont family who has to pay for that teacher. That $53k is way higher than average per capita income, and equal to or higher than average entire family income. One single average teacher (not counting his or her spouse’s income, if any) earns more than the average entire Vermont family.
So the answer to your question is, yes, in Vermont teachers make an excellent salary. But just as important, can the taxpayers afford that excellent salary? I would suggest that the answer is no.
And the teachers want more.
The average pay for teachers in the United States is $57K per year. The average teacher pay in Vermont is $53K. That ranks roughly 25th in the nation and is below the national average. Teachers in Vermont make an excellent salary? I challenge the governor to find another way to cut taxes and raise the salaries of all Vermonters.