"The Kaukauna School District, near Appleton, Wisconsin, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the new law went into effect on June 29, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it's all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.
In the past, teachers and other staff at Kaukauna were required to pay 10 percent of the cost of their health insurance coverage and none of their pension costs. Now, they'll pay 12.6 percent of the cost of their coverage (still well below rates in much of the private sector) and also contribute 5.8 percent of salary to their pensions. The changes will save the school board an estimated $1.2 million this year
It is impossible to overstate how bitter and ugly the Wisconsin fight has been, and that bitterness and ugliness continues to this day with efforts to recall senators and an unseemly battle inside the state Supreme Court. But the new law is now a reality, and Gov. Walker recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the measure will gain acceptance "with every day, week and month that goes by that the world doesn't fall apart."
In the Kaukauna schools, the world is not only not falling apart -- it's getting better."
In the Kaukauna schools, the world is not only not falling apart -- it's getting better."
HT: Joe Lais
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→How Gov. Walker's Reforms Saved a School District
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→https://manufacturing-holdings.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-gov-walker-reforms-saved-school.html
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