What would you like to see when teachers and the school board negotiate a new health insurance contract for 2009?

When negotiating, the Conway Education Association and Conway School Board always do so with an element of respect and trust. Each side must respect the other in order to bargain in good faith. Trust is important because both teams are elected, the school board by Conway residents and CEA by members. They put their trust in these teams to reach agreement on a contract that is accepted by both yet meets the needs of each side. Sometimes one side is happier than the other, but usually both walk away with close to what they initially came to the table with. That is what bargaining is all about.The Tele-Talk question this weeks appears to impose restrictions on the upcoming negotiations. By locking the school board into a proposal through public opinion, without informing the public with facts and only hearsay from one budget committee member, our negotiating next year may be, as one member already stated, more calcified than we would like.When sitting through numerous meetings across from a bargaining team, respect and trust is vital. While trust this year has been somewhat broken with confidential information shared outside of negotiations, we continue to respect the members of the Conway School Board negotiations team, and trust they will come to the table this year ready to bargain in good faith in order to bring forth a fair contract. Valley residents and CEA members can be assured health insurance, as it has every year, will be one of the many items negotiated. As in the past, negotiators plan to bargain a fair and equitable agreement that both sides, and those they represent, can be satisfied with.Curtis FinneyPresident, Conway Education Association As a person who has no health insurance (I can't afford it and frankly prefer to eat instead of trying to pay the premiums), I am appalled at what we are being forced to pay for the teachers' coverage. This has all come about by years of weak negotiations by school boards against the union pros. Virtually no one who works in the private sector has health benefits that compare to the teachers' current coverage. Why is it that many people working for a governmental agency feel that they entitled to better benefits just because the taxpayers are paying the bills? Any private company that tried to provide the same benefits would ultimately go bankrupt. To answer your question, higher deductibles should be implemented to lower the cost, and the deductibles should continue to rise over the years as health insurance rates rise. That's what the private sector does, and the municipalities should follow suit. I would be tickled pink to have any health insurance coverage even if it had a $1,000 or $2,000 deductible. At least I wouldn't be paying 100 percent of my medical bills. Uninsured in Conway I would like to see the teachers' union recognize that the taxpayers' pockets are not bottomless, and that the schools cannot forever pile on new staff positions without compensating for that bloat by cutting the per-capita pay and benefits. Teachers now get far better benefits than most of the people who are paying their salaries. Time to pretend that they live in the real world, with the rest of us. I would like to see Phil Dighello hired to lead the school board negotiating team. The $500 deductible is a no-brainer savings for everyone. That the school board use experienced negotiators, i.e., professionals. Klement and Kovalik are jokes and are totally clueless when it comes to the business of labor negotiation. The problem, however, is that we, the taxpayers, suffer from their ineptness. Conway. I think it's time for teachers and school board members to wake up and stop being so greedy, when everybody is struggling so hard just to barely survive with prices so high on everything. Us individuals should absolutely not be responsible for your bills, whether it's health insurance or any of your other bills. If we can't afford some insurance for ourselves, which most of us can't, and you're with a job making good money isn't helping us any, why in the world should us senior citizens living on practically nothing pay yours. So I say abolish it. Pay for it yourself or go without it just like the rest of us have to do. The poor can't take care of the rich any longer. You have enough benefits with summers off with pay and three or four paid vacations during the school year. I feel the more you can suck out of us, the more you want. That's called greed. The union is the root of all evil, and I say by all means I don't approve of it. Dear taxpayers: These teachers make between $50,000 and $60,000 a year. They get 18 weeks of vacation each year. That includes summer plus all the holidays during the year. Eighteen weeks off. And then they don't pay any deductible on their medical? I don't know anybody else who doesn't have a deductible. This is a disgrace. The teachers take all of you for fools. They have no respect for the Conway taxpayers. The least they could do is some kind of a deductible because now when they get slight little splinter in their finger, they're rushing off to the emergency room because it costs them nothing. If they sneeze once, they're running to the doctor for medicine, because they don't pay any kind of a deductible. A deductible will bring the insurance costs down because all these little frivolities and nonsense will be removed. When you have to pay up front initially, you watch what you spend. But when there's no deductible, you go visit a doctor every three days, even if you're just lonely to talk to somebody. I'd like to see the teachers be a little more realistic about the fact they have insurance and most of the people in the valley don't. As a local business owner, I can't afford to have insurance for my employees and, if our tax rates were lower, perhaps I could. So I think it would be really great if they realized that a $500 deductible is still a heck of a lot better than most people have. This is Kevin from Conway. I would like to see the teachers insurance similar to what the general public has. I myself and my family have a $1,000 deductible, and the policy then covers up to 70 percent. I think the teachers should get a similar type policy. I do not have dental on mine because it's too expensive. I feel that the present insurance that not only the teachers but most government workers have is much too costly. It should be reduced to something more in line with what the general public can afford. I think the answer would be that I would like to see the school board have some professional labor negotiators who know what they're doing because for years they've had these clowns do it and look what's happened? Would the teachers rather have a $5,000 deductible like a lot of us, because otherwise we would have no health coverage? I think they are being pretty selfish. Most of us have no coverage at all, and yet we are paying to give them the best coverage there is. They could also go to a lesser plan with a higher deductible. Better than none at all. Most of us who live in the valley are getting minimum wage or are retired. They should think twice about what they are doing to the taxpayers. Concerning your Tele-Talk question, teachers should keep their no deductions. The way to solve health-care costs is to vote for political candidates who are in favor of a one-payer national health-care plan. And while on the topic of money and teachers, I feel any four-year college graduate, most with huge loans to pay off, who walk through the front door of a school should be compensated at a beginning salary of $35,000 and increase from this on up for each year teaching. Everyone talks the talk of how, after parenting, teaching is the most important influence in a child's life. Talk is cheap. I'd like to see the teachers take a $1,000 deductible. It's not hard for them to have to deal with considering a ton of people in the valley don't have health insurance. I would like to see the teachers pick up a deductible. I don't know what planet they live on, but the rest have a $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000 deductible, and we have to pay $500 a month in a premium just to get that. It's ridiculous. This is "You've To Be Kidding Me" in Intervale. I think when the teachers and the school board negotiate a new health contract, they're also going to be negotiating the rest of the contract, and I'd like to give you a few facts and figures. In 1962 when I came to Conway, starting salary for teachers, a Conway police officer and postal service worker were about the same, about $4,200 a year. At the present time, a Conway cop starts at $40,000 plus benefits, postal worker $45,000 plus benefits, and a Conway teacher about $26,000. It's ridiculous that the starting salary hasn't kept up. You start teachers at $40,000, and then we'll talk about health-care insurance. There are a number of other issues that need to be addressed. For example, 16 years ago, a teacher at the top of the salary scale earned more money than a teacher at the top of the salary scale today. Sixteen years later, they're earning $2,000 to $3,000 less than they did in 1982. Find some other way to save money. I'd like to see Pat Swett back on the school board negotiating team so she could step all over the union. They should have been willing to re-negotiate this year. Very disappointing. When they go back to the table, I'd like to see the teachers show a better understanding of what their friends and neighbors have for health insurance. In typical NEA fashion, they will want to be more than compensated for whatever they agree to contribute. They should be willing to pay out some of their raises to help pay for their insurance, just like the rest of us do. Why don't we just insure the teacher and let them pay for their family coverage again, just like the rest of us do. Curtis Finney insults our intelligence by reminding us most teachers have a second job. Of course they do. They only work 186 days. They want to get the salaries and benefits of other professionals of what they earn, but other professionals don't have over three months of vacation. Do us a favor, Curtis, and keep quiet. After not much consideration because I think it's absolutely necessary that the teachers have a $500 deductible, myself, personally, I had to go from a $1,000 to a $5,000 deductible so I could afford paying the premiums. I'm a Conway taxpayer, and I would like to see a $500 deductible at the very, very minimum be put into their contract. When hiring professional staff, a total compensation package including salary and benefits is an important factor. For first-year teachers making less than $30,000 a year and carrying massive debt from college, a $500 deductible, which according to Conway's health plan can mean up to $1,500 out of pocket, that could mean the difference between a teacher staying here or leaving to find a better paying system. This is Ellen in Conway. We need to keep quality teachers here, and if the current health insurance plan will help with that, let's keep it. I would love to find a health insurance plan with a $500 deductible, that is truly only a $500 deductible. Health insurance isn't like car insurance. Raising the deductible doesn't always lower the premium. Our company has been looking at those deductible plans, and the out-of-pocket expense is actually $3,000 to $5,000 more than the $500 indicated in the Sun. That's not quite what was represented. That needs to be clarified and more information put out. I would like to see them pay the $500 deductible. Currently me and my family pay $500 deductible per person. That's a family of four, so it runs about $2,000 deductible for the year. I pay $1,400 a month for my insurance policy. What do they pay? Currently, my family, myself, with our properties within the Conways, pay roughly $80,000 in property taxes, and I don't have one student within the Conway School District. We will next year, but we currently do not have one. We will have one student next year. Paying $1,400 with $2,000 deductible and they're boohooing about a $500 deductible, with the district paying for 80 percent of their insurance. I think we should take a look at that. This is Scott in North Conway. To all you petty Conway taxpayers: I have been a teacher, who of course has voted Democrat all my life, and last month I had to pay for 12 pencils for my students who did not have a pencil, and three months prior to that, I had to pay for a pair of socks for a child who came without wearing socks. Now you want me to pay a deductible after my generosity of pencils and socks? Stop being so petty. This is Bob from Conway. When I first learned they did not have any deductible, as a taxpayer I considered it a slap in the face. Now they want to negotiate a $500 deductible? Hey, tell the school board to wake up and smell the coffee. Start with a $1,000 deductible, like most places have. That's what I have, a $1,000 deductible. So I think you should start there. I would like to see the teachers get full health insurance, covered 100 percent. They don't get paid enough as it is now. And they also must take a drug test. If they fail their drug test, they immediately lose their health insurance and are suspended from work until they clean themselves up. Many occupations now require drug tests just to do anything truck drivers, police, even construction workers to work on large federal projects. I would like to see everyone recognize the real problem, that the federal government is raping us all by Medicare payments that are below service costs. That means that all the tax-paying private citizens have double-digit increases in insurance payments every year, subsidizing the government. The government is screwing us all, and we're complaining in the wrong direction, and eventually it's going to bankrupt us all. Some seven or eight years ago, the people of Conway elected Phil Dighello to the budget committee. After military service, Phil spent the rest of his working years in the insurance business. After being elected to the budget committee, Phil took it upon himself to gather health insurance information, some of it from the SAU 9 office and some from the industry, and he put together a plan for the teachers' contract that would save all the taxpayers, including teachers, money. Real money. In the recent negotiations, a local union turned it down. We the people will never know if the local union turned it down, or did orders from miles away make the decision. In the future, I would strongly suggest that the school board hire out-of-town professionals to do the hard-nosed bargaining. I would go for the same plan, and if this doesn't work, perhaps we can finally get a big turnout for the next deliberative meeting and really work on a budget that has doubled in 10 years. Thank you. Douglas Swett. East Conway. Basically, the town is asking the teachers and support personnel who are the lowest paid in the state and most of the country, for that matter, to take a $500 pay cut. I feel for the taxpayers, but look at the big picture. You're attacking the wrong people. And if the school board can't figure out who the true culprit is in this, then they shouldn't be where they are. Wake up and smell the coffee. It's not the teachers, it's the federal government. I would like to see them at least have a $500 deductible, of not even a $1,000, and also, while they're negotiating, I think they should pay for their children, their insurance, and also their spouses. They shouldn't be able to have the whole family. Most other businesses make you pay for your insurance, and some don't even offer it, and if they do it's a very high deductible and it's not an 80/20 and the premiums are very high. I definitely think that with the way things are going, people are choosing between gas and food, seniors between medicine and their taxes. And if you think last winter was long, it's going to be even longer and tougher in the coming year, and maybe even the next year. So I think the teachers have got to come to realize the real world that most businesses don't pay for their family 80/20. And also, I would like a poll in The Conway Daily Sun to see how many people really have health insurance in the valley, and if they do, how much do they pay? And I bet you would find that a lot of people can't even afford insurance at all. This is Lois from North Conway. Re: The outrageous greed and ethically bankrupt teachers of Conway in this strapped valley's households. We have a message to Curt Finney. We will place an article on town warrant demanding $2,000 deductible. We'll legally challenge anyone from school board sitting on negotiating team with family members in any position employed in the Conway school system, which violate the RSAs conflict-of-interest laws.