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Schools

Teachers Union Protests State's Budget Repair Bill Monday

RUSD officials also announce several key issues in the District's budget

About 200 Racine Unified School District teachers and educational assistants picketed outside district headquarters Monday afternoon in protest of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to strip away collective bargaining rights as part of legislation to fix a $137 million state deficit.

Chanting and waving multi-colored signs, picketers rallied “in support of local control,” said Pete Knotek, president of the Racine Education Association (REA). The union represents about 1,600 teachers. Other participants included members of the Racine Educational Assistants Association (REAA) with about 400 members.

“This (proposed legislation) is a big power grab of a basic American right,” he said.

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The governor has proposed eliminating the ability for most public employee unions in the state to negotiate conditions such as sick leave, work hours, vacations and discipline processes. Workers could continue to bargain over wages, but increases would be tied to the national consumer price index.

The proposal would also require most public sector employees to pay half the costs of their pensions, generally 5.8 percent of pay. Some state workers would be required to pay a minimum of 12.6 percent of their health insurance premiums under the bill.

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The changes would exempt firefighters, police officers and state troopers.

Knotek said the RUSD offices, 2220 Northwestern Ave., were the site of the picket because union members want school administrators and the School Board to recognize the threat to local public education. Labor agreements between RUSD and the REA and REAA run through June 30.

Meanwhile, members of the School Board’s audit committee, who were meeting at the same time as the protest, are facing a very cloudy 2011-12 budget picture—at least until the Legislature sets new school aid formulas and local voters decide on referendum questions in April.

In one projection, RUSD faces a $4.85 million general fund deficit for the 2011-12 school year—compared with a $999,999 surplus in the current fiscal year, said David Hazen, chief financial officer for RUSD. The projected deficit is actually smaller than originally anticipated because it includes about $4.5 million in federal job education funds.

The projection also includes wage increases averaging 1.5 percent and health care increases of 10 percent. “But those are just a guess,” Hazen said.

The scenario for next fiscal year also assumes that staffing levels would remain stagnant, state aid would increase by $200 per student and that local voters on April 5 approve two referendum questions that would temporarily increase spending by $35 million and $10 million, respectively.

Citing uncertainty about how the state might handle future reimbursements to local school districts, Hazen was hesitant to offer projections of what Gov. Walker’s proposal might mean to the district’s finances.

The RUSD employees who participate in the district’s insurance program currently pay an average of 2 percent of health insurance premiums. Hazen said the district now pays $50 million annually on employee health insurance and collection $1 million in employee premium payments.

Under current labor agreements, the district’s unionized employees who are in the state pension program, make no contributions toward their pensions, he added.

Superintendent James Shaw commented that the proposed employee health insurance and pension contributions could come back to the district as increased state aid or could be redistributed by lawmakers—the specifics are simply unknown.

The School Board will view a presentation of several budget scenarios at its next regular meeting on Feb. 21.

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