By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

FALLSINGTON, Pa. – The Pennsburg teachers union actually has the nerve to protest a plan to trim some students services to balance the district’s budget.

In the same breath union leaders are asking for a whopping five percent raise, retroactive to 2010, and continued low-cost health insurance. And they want the school board to raise property taxes on struggling local residents to pay for all of the above: student programs, their raise and their low-cost insurance, according to a story published by BucksLocalNews.com.

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School board members said they could afford to continue to fund student programs if the teachers union would back off on its expensive salary, insurance and pension demands in current contract negotiations. The board, to its credit, is refusing to penalize taxpayers for runaway union labor costs.

“The reasons (the union) wants to raise taxes is not to pay for programs, it’s to pay themselves,” Jeff Sultana, the school board’s chief negotiator, was quoted as saying. “The union’s proposal is so out of whack. We’d be cutting even more if we gave the teachers what they wanted.”

Union officials obviously want to hide the fact that labor costs (mostly union labor costs) comprise about three-quarters of the general fund budget in any public school district. If labor costs can’t be cut during tough economic times, districts have no choice but to cut student services.

They don’t want the public to realize that their members only pay about 10 percent of their own health insurance premium costs, compared to the average of about 29 percent that employees across the nation pay. That’s a massive cost to the school district.

And they probably aren’t eager to explain to the public how much district would have to pay for an across-the-board five percent cost of living increase for all teachers, retroactive to 2010.

There’s no way the school board can meet the union’s financial demands, maintain every service beneficial to students and still hold the line on property taxes. Union leaders know that, yet they’re willing to use the proposed budget cuts to turn public opinion against the school board.

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If anything, citizens should be grateful that the school board refused to write the union a blank check and send taxpayers the tab.

“We’re looking for a tax-neutral contract,” Sultana said.

That means the Pennsbury school district will be forced to live within its means and determine some priorities based on the amount of revenue coming in.

Here’s hoping the teachers will get much less than they demand in their next contact so student services won’t be affected and taxpayers won’t be further burdened.