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Teachers urge board to fix soaring health-insurance costs as contract talks continue
Summary
Union leaders and multiple teachers told the Anoka-Hennepin School Board Sept. 22 that proposed insurance and financial terms in bargaining are unaffordable, citing steep premium increases and urging a move to percentage-based contributions to retain staff.
John Walhafter, president of Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota, told the school board on Sept. 22 that summer bargaining offers were "insufficient to meet the needs of the educators of Anoka Hennepin" and called the district's insurance proposals unaffordable for members.
"Every offer we have received would have the educators of Anoka Hennepin fall behind peers in nearby districts," Walhafter said, warning that the district could become "a farm team" for other districts that lure away qualified teachers.
Eighth-grade teacher Matt Van Zee of Roosevelt Middle School described the personal toll. "My individual premiums are up a 157% during that time," he said, and he told the board Anoka Hennepin teachers on the district's lowest-cost family plan pay "an average of $6,500 more per year for worse insurance compared to neighboring districts." Van Zee asked the board to "empower your negotiators to make our insurance right at the negotiating table by moving to a percentage-based model instead of a flat contribution model."
Rebecca Defoe, a 30-year math teacher, told the board that insurance changes resulted in a $6,300 reduction in her take-home pay this year and framed the loss as a long-term career concern: "There is no way with a 1 to 2% cost of living raise... I would ever recoup that $6,300." Shannon Fox, an ELA teacher at Anoka Middle School for the Arts, recounted becoming a single parent this year and said she has taken multiple outside jobs to make ends meet, asking the board to "have empathy" for teachers facing rising household costs.
The comments came as the district continues bargaining with its largest group of employees, represented by Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota. At the meeting the district's human-resources team later said teachers are among several groups in active negotiations and that financial items remain the principal sticking point.
What happens next: the board and district negotiators have signaled they will continue bargaining and use mediation where necessary. Public comments were part of the meeting's communications period; the board did not take immediate policy action in response to the speakers' pleas.
