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06/01/2004: "Unionism at its worst"

I have never liked the Michigan Education Association. The first item from this Michigan Education Digest (affiliated with the Libertarian minded Mackinac Center For Public Policy) illustrates why.

Teachers used to illegally strike in Michigan. Governor Engler stopped that by putting teeth in the no-strike law. The states largest teachers' union, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) owns its own insurance company, the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA). MESSA provides great benefits to members. MESSA premiums are expensive. MESSA is secretive. And, to avoid labor disputes, MESSA is the sole provider of health insurance for public schools. Here is a Detroit News editorial. Snippets:

[...]
The majority of the school districts in this state have their health insurance coverage administered by the Michigan Educational Special Services Association (MESSA). MESSA is linked with the state's largest teacher union, the Michigan Education Association.
[...]
A few years ago, it was estimated that MESSA handled about half a billion dollars in insurance premiums from Michigan's school districts. In the mid-1990s, the insurance agency got in trouble with the state insurance commissioner when he found it had improperly retained some $70 million of those insurance premiums and had not passed them on to Blue Cross.

The insurance agency has resisted letting school districts know their own claims histories. In the past, it has argued that it has "bundled" claims records from several school districts so it could provide regional rates.
[...]

The NEA's shameless foisting of its MESSA on Michigan school districts does not help educate kids. It does help enrich unionista cronies.

But wait, there's more
I would say that all Michigan school boards, not just Grand Rapids, should stiffen their spines and stand up to the MEA. But that leads to another issue. In Michigan, school board elections are held in June, all by themselves. Very few people vote in them. So a motivated minority can sieze control of school boards by electing their minions. And no one is more motivated to sieze control of school boards than teachers unions. Thus, there hasn't been a lot of opposition to the MESSA.

But wait, there's more
Too bad, but Michigan voters ignored school boards and as a result got fleeced. Bad school boards can lead to bad schools which can lead to state takeovers which can lead to lawsuits. This is troubling. The defacto union takeover of Detroit schools gave Michiganders a choice between good civics (local boards elected solely to oversee kids' educations; it is one of my key concepts), and actually educating kids.