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Kentucky teachers in many districts this morning all called in sick to protest the new bill that the governor is expected to sign. Kentucky is very close to having a full-blown teacher strike and it could get nasty, because I think KY's governor will attempt to use any anger against any striking to support an all or nearly-all charter school agenda. Kentucky is the next state to watch.
I attended an event earlier this week during which we heard from local WV teacher and support staff union leaders. Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky were all part of the discussion.
Kentucky is in a different situation than West Virginia or Oklahoma. When adjusted for cost-of-living Kentucky is ranked 9th best in teacher pay while Oklahoma ranks 34th and West Virginia ranks 47th. This means teachers are not currently feeling the pain. For Kentucky the battle is about retirement. Kentucky is one of 15 states that elected to exempt itself from Social Security, the state retiree health plan is pretty dang sweet, it’s retirement system does not have enough funds, and unlike the federal government they can’t just print more money for themselves. It is a disaster that has been brewing for decades, it is simply not substainable to have people retiring at 55 at 75% of their pay and cheap, very comprehensive health insurance plans.
I know they had their sick out today, but it barely even whimpered in the western or southern ends of the state, and the Northern Kentucky area barely blinked. Lexington, Louisville, their bedroom counties, and Eastern Kentucky are the areas that closed schools. Regardless, they will have trouble sustaining the momentum considering the bill snuck in yesterday, and it was snuck in, only impacted new hires. The bill established some sort of hybrid system for anyone hired starting this school year, the particulars of which I have not read. If they move towards allowing new hires to be covered by Social Security (which they should be forced to seeing as how they have proved they can’t be trusted to self fund) they will only be doing what multiple states have done over the last couple of decades. This means their argument that teachers will not stay in Kentucky to work isn’t going to be true.
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Kentucky is in a different situation than West Virginia or Oklahoma. When adjusted for cost-of-living Kentucky is ranked 9th best in teacher pay while Oklahoma ranks 34th and West Virginia ranks 47th. This means teachers are not currently feeling the pain. For Kentucky the battle is about retirement. Kentucky is one of 15 states that elected to exempt itself from Social Security, the state retiree health plan is pretty dang sweet, it’s retirement system does not have enough funds, and unlike the federal government they can’t just print more money for themselves. It is a disaster that has been brewing for decades, it is simply not substainable to have people retiring at 55 at 75% of their pay and cheap, very comprehensive health insurance plans.
I know they had their sick out today, but it barely even whimpered in the western or southern ends of the state, and the Northern Kentucky area barely blinked. Lexington, Louisville, their bedroom counties, and Eastern Kentucky are the areas that closed schools. Regardless, they will have trouble sustaining the momentum considering the bill snuck in yesterday, and it was snuck in, only impacted new hires. The bill established some sort of hybrid system for anyone hired starting this school year, the particulars of which I have not read. If they move towards allowing new hires to be covered by Social Security (which they should be forced to seeing as how they have proved they can’t be trusted to self fund) they will only be doing what multiple states have done over the last couple of decades. This means their argument that teachers will not stay in Kentucky to work isn’t going to be true.
The part in bold is a problem as I understand it. Whether or not it is good for the retirement system in the long run, they won't win over people or gain their trust by sneaking policy into a bill on sewage.
The last I read "over 20" of the districts closed today. That's a small portion of the total. Oklahoma looks to be much more unified heading into next week.
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