Would you be surprised to learn that the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) created and owns WEA Trust insurance? We were.
In a July 14 story entitled Franklin School Board to Discuss, Insurance Bidding Process, we wrote in-part:
For the sake of Franklin taxpayers let’s hope the “insurance” being discussed by the [School] Board is employee health insurance.
In its May publication Wisconsin School Reformer, a publication of Education Action Group Foundation (EAG),reported that the limitations placed upon teacher’s unions collective bargaining will leave school boards and their districts free from costly WEA Trust insurance. Baraboo School Board got a jump on the rest of the state in May when it voted to dump WEA Trust employee health coverage in favor of similar coverage through the Dean Health Plan. According to the report, the Baraboo school District will save an estimated $660,000 per year by making the change. Eighty-eight percent of the savings will go to the district, while the other 12 percent will be split among insured employees, according to wiscnews.com.
Wisconsin School Reformer also wrote that the money the district saves will almost certainly help salvage a few teaching positions and student programs over the next few years and goes on to state that the bidding competition at Baraboo was really not competitive at all.
The family premium proposed by WEA Trust was $1,630 per month, while the premium proposed by Dean Health was just under $1,400 per month. The WEA Trust plan would have cost the district about $5 million per year, while the Dean plan will cost $4.3 million.
Since that meeting and as previously noted, we have learned that, according to its website, the WEA Trust was created by the Wisconsin Education Association Council (Wisconsin Teachers Union) to provide insurance, and retirement and investment services to Wisconsin public school employees and their families.
We noted in a related story on July 21; Teachers Flood School Board Meeting, Franklin Teachers made up the majority of the audience at last night’s school board meeting. During Citizen Comments school board president Debbie Larson a former teacher permitted Franklin teachers to comment on agenda item 9. a. Board Discussion, [health] insurance bidding process. Fear of the unknown and satisfaction with the status quo (WEA Trust) seemed to be the motivating factor behind most of the comments.
Larson assured these Franklin Teacher’s that the Board and the District would get their input in making the decision. It is unclear whether Larson can make that claim without the approval of the full school board.
The Franklin School Board can certainly learn from the Baraboo board. We found this statement from Baraboo officials especially interesting concerning its bidding process:
"...the bidding competition at Baraboo was really not competitive at all."
The Franklin School Board plans to conduct its search for a new insurance provider with the help of an outside consulting firm.
If you would like to discuss this or other education issues regarding the Franklin School District please contact a member of the Franklin School Board or Franklin Schools Superintendent Steve Patz at 414-525-7603.
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