The article below is a must read. Prime example of how public sector unions are preventing reform and the only solution they want is increased taxes on Michigan workers. Union bosses operate on forced union dues. Union members are good people that are forced by state law to fund union activities. Unions have lost their way. It is time that they compete for members like every other private organization. Worker freedom is a must. Stop compulsory union dues. This is the only way to stop corrupt money hungrey union bosses.

November 15, 2009 http://detnews.com/article/20091115/OPINION03/911150309

Gov's tax hike ploy is reckless

NOLAN FINLEY

There's something Gov. Jennifer Granholm isn't mentioning as she barnstorms the state to leverage the deep cuts she orchestrated in school funding into the sales tax hike she's long coveted.

The governor isn't telling angry and fearful parents that there's at least $1 billion, and perhaps more than $2 billion, in education money to be had if she'd stop obsessing over the fact that there's still a few dollars left in our wallets she hasn't taxed.

"She's absolutely looking for taxes and ignoring the low hanging fruit that could be had from reform if she had the leadership to pursue it," says Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, who's tired of Granholm blaming him for the cuts.

Certainly, higher taxes are one way of making up the education shortfall. But that seems heartless in a state where unemployment is rising, incomes are falling and folks are already having trouble paying the monthly mortgage. Particularly when there are other sources of revenue.

The most promising pool of money lies in the Obama administration's Race for the Top school improvement program. Michigan is eligible for up to $600 million from the project, which will reward states for embracing school reform.

But to be eligible, Michigan must make some changes. Specifically, it must start using student achievement scores to evaluate teacher performance, make it easier for non-teachers with specialized skills to get into classrooms, and ease restrictions on charter schools.

Nothing radical, yet still the Michigan Education Association is using its influence in Lansing to put on the kibosh.

House Speaker Andy Dillon has proposed placing all public employees into a single health insurance pool to save, he says, $900 million. But that's going nowhere, again because of the MEA's opposition and Granholm's indifference.

It's a reform that wouldn't cost a single teacher job.

And as an added benefit it would make obsolete the MEA's insurance affiliate, MESSA. MESSA is sitting on an estimated $450 million reserve, money skimmed from the school districts it serves. It would be worth exploring whether the districts would have a claim on the money if MESSA was reformed out of business.

Teacher benefits are also ripe for reform. Binging the teacher benefit package down to the national average would free up $1 billion. Teachers see any reform as balancing the budget on their backs.

But their backs ought to be good and limber, since taxpayers are still paying for massages for teachers covered by the best MESSA plans.

Granholm won't talk about reform as a budget balancing tool because if residents knew there were other ways to erase the school deficit, it would be tougher to extort them for a broader sales tax.

Give Bishop the last word, since he's been so meanly treated by the governor in recent weeks: "What she's doing is calculated, shameless and reckless." Well said.

Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of TheDetroit News.

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