Dedicated to improving responsiveness and performance of Montgomery County Public Schools
Pages
▼
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Gazette Letter: Schools superintendent out of touch with reality
Schools Superintendent Jerry Weast's comments on health care benefits ["Montgomery County executive proposes property tax increases, layoffs" in the March 16 issue of The Gazette plainly demonstrate that he is totally out of touch with reality.
Weast, who apparently pays nothing toward his own "Cadillac" health care package, despite his gargantuan salary, asserts that it is "impractical" to require school employees to contribute more than 5 percent toward their health care plans because these employees work with children and many of them have master's degrees. Weast doesn't seem to realize that most private companies require employees to contribute 25 percent to 30 percent of their health care.
As a federal government worker with a law degree, I contribute 30 percent toward my health care plan. If my wife, a librarian at Montgomery College who has a master's degree and works with students, had her own plan through the college instead of being on my plan, she would contribute 25 percent...
Do you know that the 95% that MCPS is paying for my healthcare is LESS that the 80% the county is paying for a similar plan for one of their employees?
Of course not. No one knows anything about the MCPS budget because it is set in SECRET! It is not set at the public table by the Board of Education.
Apple folks, you reap what you sow. You don't want the public to view the setting of the MCPS budget - AS IT SHOULD BE DONE - and support back room meetings and deals. Then you expect the public to believe your PR on what's in the budget?
Sorry, you can't have it both ways. You want the public to be educated about the MCPS budget? Then stop supporting a secret process.
The MCPS budget should be set at the public Board of Education table, where the public can observe and then participate.
sigh. as if this were the biggest beef about this man. how about the 8 months of torture he put all the wheaton and edison parents and staff thru!??!! with no resolution b/c he tricked the BOE?!!!
also, i'm not buying that the 9% is less than 80%. how many options are there? how much do they cost/deductibles/copays, etc? i don't have 80% either!
You can believe what you choose. However, the fact remains that the vast majority of MCPS employees are on HMOs, which are far cheaper to the county then PPOs or POS plans. Therefore, the 95% that the country pays for the MCPS employee healthcare plans amounts to less then the 80% they pay for their own employees, most of whom do not have HMOs.
Others may not have as much of their health care covered as teachers do, but other proffesions also do not have to take home (hours and hours of) work or can recieve overtime pay to increase their salary.
Or if you want to level teachers health care to be the same as other state workers then make the retirement package the same as well.
Actually Janis, these facts can easily be found in the 2011-12 report issued by the Montgomery County Council Office of Legislative Oversight.
Their own report indicates that despite the county only paying 80% of workers health care, their plans are more expensive for the taxpayers than the MCPS plans that pay 90-95%.
Those are the facts from that report. No "gossip" as you'd apparently like to have people think.
Should the county decide that MCPS employees must increase their health care contributions, so be it. However, it will affect services when many of us have to leave the school house on time to go to our second job. While I can only speak for myself, simple math tells me that I will have over $300 more taken out of each paycheck between the increased premium and pension. The extra work I currently do for free will no longer be possible as I and others like me will need to supplement our incomes. This is just an economic reality. I realize it happens to other people in other professions as well. The public in Montgomery County has come to expect a lot of services that MCPS employees have basically provided on their own time and their own dime. Many of us simply won't be able to do that.
@MCPS employee 9:11 - That's not a MCPS budget document. That is a special report that taxpayers had to pay extra to have created because the MCPS budget doesn't provide the needed transparency.
And no, it can't be "easily" found. Maybe in your Apple literature it is "easy" to find, but it isn't "easy" to find for Montgomery County citizens. And it isn't information that is routinely released by the school system in their budget.
For readers, no this anonymous person didn't give you the link or page to what they claim.
As I'm sure you know it's a report issued by the Council staff. Since the COuncil and BOE are locked in a political battle it sure is PR, PR for the COuncil.
Funny part is at least for health care costs it shows the first claim posted above is true.
I don't mean to speak for Janis- but I believe her argument is for greater transparency in the budget and from the MCPS board overall. I think we could all benefit from that. I'd personally like to see a pie chart of expenditures like what we see from the federal gov't. I'd like to see what percent of county expenditures go to non-classroom based expenditures. I'd like to see how many "teachers" never see the instructional end of a classroom. These are important questions that are not easily answerable without doing hours of research yourself- and maybe not even then. These are vital questions because when we cut salaries or benefits of teachers- we should be absolutely certain it is necessary. When these answers aren't readily available, it's almost as if the Board doesn't want the public to know the answers. And if they don't want us to know the answers, then why not?
I thought George Leventhal made a statement at the county budget hearings that that report was based on a miscalculation? Is that the report he was referring to?
@ Mike-I agree with you 100%. I like you how you make your point without patronizing people or appearing to talk down to them. Others could follow your lead and would be more effective with that style.
@ Janis--no argument about the $100,000. It's suspect at best and likely improper. However, you've changed the specific issue that was under debate here, perhaps because the evidence shows the original (first) post in this thread is likely true.
Health care for the county employees is more expensive at 80% than MCPS healthcare at 90-95%.
Anonymous@April 7, 3:23pm, You are mistaken to say that those of us in other gov't. offices (e.g., federal) or the private sector do not take home 'hours and hours' of work. We all do this. And no, we don't get 'overtime.' That is a fantasy. We work much more than 40 hours per week and we do not get paid for it. On the other hand, given the economy, we do it because if we don't we can get laid off anytime, unlike you. We work nights, weekends, holidays to complete tasks. Most of us did not get any raise or a very slight raise over the last few years. And, to be very clear, most of us get 14 vacation days per year in addition to about 3 federal holidays. Most people do not get 'Columbus Day' off. Most people do not get 'Presidents' Birthday' off as a holiday. And most of all, no one but you gets the entire summer off as vacation. No one.
And then there are private sector employees with just as many advanced degrees as teachers who get 10 vacation days a year. And NO sick leave. If you get sick, you gotta use a vacation day. And, by the way, almost $1000 a month is deducted from your pay for your share of the health insurance premium *(for a bare-bones policy, not a "Cadillac" policy). And who are at-will employees who can be fired at any time for any reason. Pension? We wish. Whatever we manage to save will be our pension. Everyone works hard these days, teachers and private sector employees included. Don't insult us by claiming that private sector employees don't work as hard or as many hours as teachers do.
OK - MCPS "staff" - You have names. Use them. Way too confusing for readers to try and figure out which anonymous person said what and who is responding. Also, impossible for readers to know who is just a PR person and who is an actual classroom teacher.
If you believe in your position then put your name with your words. Tough talk? Stand up for what you believe in.
Let me make it clear for our readers- When actual classroom teachers communicate with the Parents' Coalition, they use their real names. Not only do we hear from classroom teachers all the time, but we have opened up this forum to their use and welcome their submissions.
There's a little history behind the 90/10 and 95/5 health insurance premium sharing for MCPS employees. I've been teaching in MCPS 29 years. When I was hired, we had a comprehensive fee for service health care plan. The premium was shared at 70% MCPS/30% employee for the first 3 years. Then it went to 80%/20% for 3 years before ending up at 85%/15% for years 7 and beyond. Somewhere along the line a managed care plan (Point of Service) was added in the hope of replacing the original plan. The managed care plan was much less expensive so MCPS agreed to pay 90% of the premium in order to entice employees to join this plan. This approach proved to be successful and the original, more costly plan was dropped. Likewise, a few years ago, a more tightly managed HMO was added as an option and MCPS agreed to pay 95% of the premium, again to entice employees to enroll in this plan which less expensive. According to MCEA (I believe their figures come from the OLO Document) over 60% of MCPS employees have chosen the cheaper HMO plan.
I know that Ms. Sartucci wants budget documents. I don't have those. I know this from being a careful reader and consumer of the health care products that have been offered to me over the years. I do know that the OLO document does show that MCPS' per employee health care costs are less than those of the other county employees as I took the time to go through it in Dec.
One other thing regarding health benefits--MCPS retirees pay more than other county retirees for their health care. MCPS Retirees pay 36% of their health insurance. I believe that other county retirees pay 20% or less. That information is readily available for MCPS in the insurance documents on the MCPS website. The insurance for MCPS retirees is prohibitive on a MD pension. Many of us cannot consider retirement until age 65 when we will go on medicare and our MCPS insurance plan converts to a less costly medicare supplemental plan.
Since you mentioned that I "glossed over" the point of your teacher salary argument, I thought I'd come over here and point out the fact that you "glossed over" the fact that the data shows that the original comment poster was correct.
No, the original comment can't be correct. It came from a biased report. Remember?
I have asked for the actual budget documents that make these points. But as has been pointed out they DO NOT EXIST because the Apple folks LIKE the SECRET BUDGET PROCESS.
I'm going to ask you again, are you saying that the original special report issued by the Office of Legislative Oversight is inaccurate in its reporting of the cost of employee health insurance for MCPS and government employees?
@Ireland - Wake up. That's what MCPS STAFF say! So what is it? Is the OLO Report all valid or all PR or do you just pick an chose the parts you want to talk about?
Do you know that the 95% that MCPS is paying for my healthcare is LESS that the 80% the county is paying for a similar plan for one of their employees?
ReplyDelete@MCPS employee,
ReplyDeleteOf course not. No one knows anything about the MCPS budget because it is set in SECRET! It is not set at the public table by the Board of Education.
Apple folks, you reap what you sow. You don't want the public to view the setting of the MCPS budget - AS IT SHOULD BE DONE - and support back room meetings and deals. Then you expect the public to believe your PR on what's in the budget?
Sorry, you can't have it both ways. You want the public to be educated about the MCPS budget? Then stop supporting a secret process.
The MCPS budget should be set at the public Board of Education table, where the public can observe and then participate.
Why don't you start reading http://mcealeads.blogspot.com then? Lots of good data there on this topic.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't "data" coming out of MCPS? Why the Apple filter?
ReplyDeleteRight, because the Apple doesn't support transparency. Got it.
sigh. as if this were the biggest beef about this man. how about the 8 months of torture he put all the wheaton and edison parents and staff thru!??!! with no resolution b/c he tricked the BOE?!!!
ReplyDeletealso, i'm not buying that the 9% is less than 80%. how many options are there? how much do they cost/deductibles/copays, etc? i don't have 80% either!
You can believe what you choose. However, the fact remains that the vast majority of MCPS employees are on HMOs, which are far cheaper to the county then PPOs or POS plans. Therefore, the 95% that the country pays for the MCPS employee healthcare plans amounts to less then the 80% they pay for their own employees, most of whom do not have HMOs.
ReplyDelete@MCPS employee
ReplyDeleteSo it's all just gossip. No facts in the MCPS budget to back up your claim?
Please point to Chapter and Verse as they say...
Others may not have as much of their health care covered as teachers do, but other proffesions also do not have to take home (hours and hours of) work or can recieve overtime pay to increase their salary.
ReplyDeleteOr if you want to level teachers health care to be the same as other state workers then make the retirement package the same as well.
Actually Janis, these facts can easily be found in the 2011-12 report issued by the Montgomery County Council Office of Legislative Oversight.
ReplyDeleteTheir own report indicates that despite the county only paying 80% of workers health care, their plans are more expensive for the taxpayers than the MCPS plans that pay 90-95%.
Those are the facts from that report. No "gossip" as you'd apparently like to have people think.
Should the county decide that MCPS employees must increase their health care contributions, so be it. However, it will affect services when many of us have to leave the school house on time to go to our second job. While I can only speak for myself, simple math tells me that I will have over $300 more taken out of each paycheck between the increased premium and pension. The extra work I currently do for free will no longer be possible as I and others like me will need to supplement our incomes. This is just an economic reality. I realize it happens to other people in other professions as well. The public in Montgomery County has come to expect a lot of services that MCPS employees have basically provided on their own time and their own dime. Many of us simply won't be able to do that.
ReplyDelete@MCPS employee 9:11 - That's not a MCPS budget document. That is a special report that taxpayers had to pay extra to have created because the MCPS budget doesn't provide the needed transparency.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, it can't be "easily" found. Maybe in your Apple literature it is "easy" to find, but it isn't "easy" to find for Montgomery County citizens. And it isn't information that is routinely released by the school system in their budget.
For readers, no this anonymous person didn't give you the link or page to what they claim.
No name. No facts.
We have been sent a link to a PR piece. Nope. That's not a MCPS budget document.
ReplyDeleteTry again.
We are going for public budget documents that show the facts, not PR pieces.
You don't like facts to get in the way of your opinions, do you?
ReplyDelete@Anon - You haven't given us any factual documents yet. We are still waiting.
ReplyDeleteWhy not post the link and let readers decide? Include any commentary you want, but why not post the link? What are you afraid of?
ReplyDelete@ Janis from 9:47
ReplyDeleteCorrect it isn't an MCPS budget doc.
Here's the link you want and probably already knew.
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/olo/reports/2008.asp
As I'm sure you know it's a report issued by the Council staff. Since the COuncil and BOE are locked in a political battle it sure is PR, PR for the COuncil.
Funny part is at least for health care costs it shows the first claim posted above is true.
I don't mean to speak for Janis- but I believe her argument is for greater transparency in the budget and from the MCPS board overall. I think we could all benefit from that. I'd personally like to see a pie chart of expenditures like what we see from the federal gov't. I'd like to see what percent of county expenditures go to non-classroom based expenditures. I'd like to see how many "teachers" never see the instructional end of a classroom. These are important questions that are not easily answerable without doing hours of research yourself- and maybe not even then. These are vital questions because when we cut salaries or benefits of teachers- we should be absolutely certain it is necessary. When these answers aren't readily available, it's almost as if the Board doesn't want the public to know the answers. And if they don't want us to know the answers, then why not?
ReplyDelete@4:11 Funny thing - it's PR but it's OK? What about just putting out the budget information in a transparent, public document?
ReplyDeleteThen the public wouldn't have to guess as to why MCPS and the Apple folks at the secret budget table are spending $100,000+ on a diet company.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/04/fat-in-mcps-budget.html
I thought George Leventhal made a statement at the county budget hearings that that report was based on a miscalculation? Is that the report he was referring to?
ReplyDelete@ Mike-I agree with you 100%. I like you how you make your point without patronizing people or appearing to talk down to them. Others could follow your lead and would be more effective with that style.
ReplyDelete@ Janis--no argument about the $100,000. It's suspect at best and likely improper. However, you've changed the specific issue that was under debate here, perhaps because the evidence shows the original (first) post in this thread is likely true.
Health care for the county employees is more expensive at 80% than MCPS healthcare at 90-95%.
Anonymous@April 7, 3:23pm,
ReplyDeleteYou are mistaken to say that those of us in other gov't. offices (e.g., federal) or the private sector do not take home 'hours and hours' of work. We all do this. And no, we don't get 'overtime.' That is a fantasy. We work much more than 40 hours per week and we do not get paid for it. On the other hand, given the economy, we do it because if we don't we can get laid off anytime, unlike you. We work nights, weekends, holidays to complete tasks. Most of us did not get any raise or a very slight raise over the last few years. And, to be very clear, most of us get 14 vacation days per year in addition to about 3 federal holidays. Most people do not get 'Columbus Day' off. Most people do not get 'Presidents' Birthday' off as a holiday. And most of all, no one but you gets the entire summer off as vacation. No one.
And then there are private sector employees with just as many advanced degrees as teachers who get 10 vacation days a year. And NO sick leave. If you get sick, you gotta use a vacation day. And, by the way, almost $1000 a month is deducted from your pay for your share of the health insurance premium *(for a bare-bones policy, not a "Cadillac" policy). And who are at-will employees who can be fired at any time for any reason. Pension? We wish. Whatever we manage to save will be our pension.
ReplyDeleteEveryone works hard these days, teachers and private sector employees included. Don't insult us by claiming that private sector employees don't work as hard or as many hours as teachers do.
OK - MCPS "staff" - You have names. Use them. Way too confusing for readers to try and figure out which anonymous person said what and who is responding. Also, impossible for readers to know who is just a PR person and who is an actual classroom teacher.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe in your position then put your name with your words. Tough talk? Stand up for what you believe in.
Let me make it clear for our readers- When actual classroom teachers communicate with the Parents' Coalition, they use their real names. Not only do we hear from classroom teachers all the time, but we have opened up this forum to their use and welcome their submissions.
ReplyDeleteThere's a little history behind the 90/10 and 95/5 health insurance premium sharing for MCPS employees. I've been teaching in MCPS 29 years. When I was hired, we had a comprehensive fee for service health care plan. The premium was shared at 70% MCPS/30% employee for the first 3 years. Then it went to 80%/20% for 3 years before ending up at 85%/15% for years 7 and beyond. Somewhere along the line a managed care plan (Point of Service) was added in the hope of replacing the original plan. The managed care plan was much less expensive so MCPS agreed to pay 90% of the premium in order to entice employees to join this plan. This approach proved to be successful and the original, more costly plan was dropped. Likewise, a few years ago, a more tightly managed HMO was added as an option and MCPS agreed to pay 95% of the premium, again to entice employees to enroll in this plan which less expensive. According to MCEA (I believe their figures come from the OLO Document) over 60% of MCPS employees have chosen the cheaper HMO plan.
ReplyDeleteI know that Ms. Sartucci wants budget documents. I don't have those. I know this from being a careful reader and consumer of the health care products that have been offered to me over the years. I do know that the OLO document does show that MCPS' per employee health care costs are less than those of the other county employees as I took the time to go through it in Dec.
One other thing regarding health benefits--MCPS retirees pay more than other county retirees for their health care. MCPS Retirees pay 36% of their health insurance. I believe that other county retirees pay 20% or less. That information is readily available for MCPS in the insurance documents on the MCPS website. The insurance for MCPS retirees is prohibitive on a MD pension. Many of us cannot consider retirement until age 65 when we will go on medicare and our MCPS insurance plan converts to a less costly medicare supplemental plan.
Since you mentioned that I "glossed over" the point of your teacher salary argument, I thought I'd come over here and point out the fact that you "glossed over" the fact that the data shows that the original comment poster was correct.
ReplyDelete@ireland,
ReplyDeleteNo, the original comment can't be correct. It came from a biased report. Remember?
I have asked for the actual budget documents that make these points. But as has been pointed out they DO NOT EXIST because the Apple folks LIKE the SECRET BUDGET PROCESS.
Sorry, it's all a secret. Can't prove anything.
I'm going to ask you again, are you saying that the original special report issued by the Office of Legislative Oversight is inaccurate in its reporting of the cost of employee health insurance for MCPS and government employees?
ReplyDelete@Ireland - Wake up. That's what MCPS STAFF say! So what is it? Is the OLO Report all valid or all PR or do you just pick an chose the parts you want to talk about?
ReplyDelete