The Shameful Greed of the Teachers Unions

Despite claims of “painful cuts,” spending on K-12 schools in Massachusetts has gone up every year during this recession. Total K-12 spending was $11.5 billion in 2008. It is $12.3 billion today. $750 million more thrown at schools – while families have had to cut their spending, on average, by over 20%.

K-12 employment has gone up during this recession too – while the private sector shed hundreds of thousands of jobs. For every one of the (few hundred) school employees who actually lost a job, K-12 schools created two or more new jobs.

Pay and benefits for K-12 employees have also gone up during this recession. In recent labor negotiations, the Teachers Union demanded yet another pay increase of 28% .

More school spending, more hiring, pay increases and bigger benefits – in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression.

The Teachers Unions are now spending $4.5 million in Negative Advertising to convince you to vote against Question 3, the sales tax rollback to 3%. If passed, it will:

• Create over 27,000 new private sector jobs

• Give back an average of $900 per family per year. Every year.

• Save and restore retail businesses along the norther border where they must compete with New Hampshire’s 0% sales tax.

• Attract shoppers from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York – and boost retail business along our western and southern borders.

Instead, they want to keep your taxes high. They want more.

Do these people have no shame?

Are they really doing what’s best for your children? Or what’s best for the Teachers Unions?