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Taxpayers Revolt
By Joe Cadrain, Winsted
It is amazing to me that Connecticut has retrogressed into a position where union greed could soon move many of our towns into bankruptcy because the taxpayers cannot or will not continue to pay the costs of government spending. Towns will be the first to run out of money because towns are mandated by our legislature to subsidize our cities' operating costs plus their own.
The education and state workers' unions are richer and stronger today than ever before because government is our biggest employer. Union assessments and dues are high, but members are more than willing to pay the costs because these powerful unions continue to increase their wages and benefits. Today these unions have a powerful influence in the Democratic Party, plus they provide campaign money for a large number of Republicans.
When the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) becomes so powerful that they can legally demand and receive a 15% increase in pay over a three-year period—without accountability, in a recession—the public is in serious trouble. It has happened in Cheshire and Plymouth, and soon other towns will fall prey to education-friendly arbiters who continually vote to continue the CEA’s gravy train. Until some form of meaningful school choice system that includes private schools is put in place, we will continue to fail our youth by giving them a mediocre education as we pass on extremely high costs to their parents or guardians. This greed that has been increasing for many years has not improved the education of our children, but rather it does what is best for those working in the system.
We need to understand that teachers' contracts are a standard for all other positions in the system. From the superintendents on down, all salaries and benefits are based on teacher contracts. We need also to understand labor relations in Connecticut school systems. First, there are no management groups because all those working for the school system belong to labor unions, including school superintendents. Then again, school boards and school administrators have the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) to guide them in management-style discussions with employees, including contract negotiations. The question here is whose best interest CABE is looking out for. Actually, CABE works side by side with the CEA, lobbying our legislature to prevent competition, accountability, or any reform of the status quo in our school system.
Can the system be reformed so that students are better educated than in most foreign industrial nations? Yes! However, you the voters have to force the issue because neither the system nor the government will do it without pressure from the voters. Have a nice day.
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