Boy, Have I Got a "Bargain" For You

Here, folks, is a perfect example of how collective bargaining can cost the taxpayers (in this instance, the taxpayers of Connecticut) hundreds of thousands of bucks, possibly millions. It was back in 1991. The state of Connecticut (DMR, specifically) was getting out of direct services in special education (ages 3-21). The students - they, in turn, were "given back" to their nexuses for programming. The obvious result of this was that a lot of special education state school teachers lost their positions (a few of them, myself included, followed the students to their next nexus). BUT, being that they had a lot of seniority, the state had to find them new positions. This usually entailed these folks moving to adult programming. The problem? The problem, folks, is that adult programming gets but a fraction of the funding that school aged clients receive, and the state had to eat the cost........................................................................................................In my opinion, these people should have been reclassified as state school instructors and paid accordingly. And EVEN THIS would have been generous - state school instructors making significantly more than job-coaches and day programmers in the private/nonprofit sectors. And if you think that I'm exaggerating the savings here, try to absorb this. A lot of these people, folks, are still in the system. Their salary now has to be in the mid 80s. If they had been reclassified as state school instructors, they'd probably be making in the low 50s (20-30 if they had switched to the private sector). Multiply these discrepancies by 3-4 dozen folks over 20 years and, yeah, I'm pretty sure that you're talking some real money here.....................................................................................................P.S. Please, I ask you, do not take this piece as an endorsement of the Wisconsin Governor. This, folks, in that, while, yes, I basically do agree with his position that collective bargaining for government workers is problematic, a conflict of interest, etc., I DO NOT appreciate his tactics; the fact that he literally sprung this proposal out of nowhere, his hard and fast unwillingness to even talk/negotiate, etc.. Persuasion and an effective argument - that, in my mind, would have worked significantly better for him.