By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and the state legislature tried to save money for cash-strapped public schools.

But the state’s teachers unions wouldn’t hear of it. That means the schools are now going to face an ugly increase in state pension costs at a time when they can least afford it.

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Snyder and state lawmakers tried to remove some pressure from public school budgets last year by passing a law requiring school employees to pay an additional three percent of their incomes toward retiree health care. That allowed school districts to deduct roughly the same percentage from their pension contributions.

But the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit to block the increased employee contribution, and somehow won in court. That means local school districts will have to increase their payments to the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System by about 3.7 percent, effective Oct. 1.

The increase will present a financial dilemma for schools throughout the state. Kalamazoo Public Schools, for instance, will have to come up with an unbudgeted $700,000 to meet its obligation, according to the news report.

“I’m not happy,” Ron Fuller, superintendent of the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency, was quoted as saying. “The unions should try to work with people.”

The fact is that Michigan’s school employee pension system was headed for the financial rocks and becoming an unbearable burden on local school districts. Snyder and his supporters properly reasoned that since the fund exists to benefit school employees, they should contribute more while giving schools a bit of a break.

The savings have helped school districts keep younger teachers on the payroll and avoid painful cuts to student programs.

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But now those savings are apparently gone. The unions have once again demonstrated that they have no interest in the financial health of public schools, or their ability to deliver quality service for students.