Teachers Choose New Insurance Plan

Sumner County teachers have voted to create an independent health insurance trust overseen by the School Board.  This means that in January of 2014, teachers will no longer be a part of the state's Local Education Medical Plan.

 It also means that the Board will soon vote to remove its classified (non-teacher) employees from the County-run insurance trust. 

That's the same trust that was bailed out in November of 2012 because it was running out of funds to pay claims. It ran out of funds to pay claims because the County refused to follow the Trustee's recommendations to raise premiums -- doing so would have increased costs to both employees and to the County.  And a solid majority on the County Commission is steadfastly against a tax increase for any purpose.  So, with no other sources of income, the Commission allowed the trust to nearly go bankrupt, then bailed out it with reserve funds. 

If that type of management continues, the County employees and school system classified employees would face serious consequences including an end to the trust and either a new plan or no plan. 

The School System's move should make the insurance situation more stable for its classified employees -- but it will also put the County Trust in danger of collapsing.  Without the premiums from the school system employees (who have tended to file less claims than other county employees), it seems unlikely the Trust will survive absent a significant premium increase. 

According to the school system's consultants, the move to a new School Board Trust for health insurance will create significant savings.  Most immediately, employees could see premium reductions of $15 a month or more (depending on the plan they choose) from their portion of the insurance match.  Additionally, the Board figures to see savings in the millions in its portion of premium payments.

With such savings available, the School Board may finally be able to raise pay for all employees to a more competitive level with surrounding counties. 

Only time will tell if the School Board's new plan will be a success.  Of course, you can expect political heat to be generated over the move to take the school system's classified employees out of the current County Trust. 

Stay tuned ...

Teachers Skeptical of New Pay Scale

Sumner County teachers are skeptical about a new pay plan adopted by the State Board of Education and suspect it could mean lower lifetime earnings, especially with the current makeup of the Sumner County Commission. 

The plan changes the state's mandatory minimum teacher pay and would allow districts to keep the pay of some teachers stagnant for years.  While no teacher will make less than they do in the 2013-14 school year, there's no requirement that they ever make more, either. 

The state has suggested that districts differentiate teacher pay -- based on either test scores or hard to fill positions.  However, the state has provided zero new dollars to districts to assist them in boosting teacher pay. 

Sumner County's teachers are among the lowest-paid in middle Tennessee and starting salaries in Sumner lag some $6,000+ behind those in neighboring Davidson County. 

In recent years, the Sumner County Commission has balked at efforts to fund the School Board's budgets.  This has some teachers worried that the Commission will use the new pay scale as a way to demand that the Board not increase salaries.  In the past, the Board justified raises by noting that the state required certain increases for teachers.  Now, that argument is off the table. 

Fortunately, Board Chair Ted Wise has indicated he wants to see Sumner teacher salaries remain competitive. 

The Board will be tasked with developing a new pay scale in the coming months so that it may be approved the State Board and implemented in 2014-15.