Many public school districts offered early retirement to teachers to cut down on expenses. Many Wisconsin teachers "quit" over Governor Walker's public union control legislation.
Well, guess what?
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By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON — A stampede of retirees made their way out the door this summer in the Superior School District.
Monica Tikkanen, the district’s director of human resources, counted 45 retirees, about 10 percent of the workforce, the most she’s seen in her 25-year career.
She blames Act 10, the controversial law that, along with curtailing collective bargaining for Wisconsin’s public employees, requires them to kick in more for health insurance costs and contribute 5.8 percent of their salary to their pensions.
This story has played out in many parts of the state, like the Madison Metropolitan School District, where the human resources department reported more than 180 retirees in a district of some 3,500 employees.
“They thought a bird in the hand is better,” Tikkanen said of the rush of retirements in Superior. “These were people who were not ready to go yet. We lost experience, wisdom, great employees.”
That experience didn’t depart for good, though.
Tikkanen said an “inordinate number” of retired employees, 33 by her count, returned to Superior’s public school system, at least on a part-time basis. A few are working full time.
They all are designated as rehired annuitants on state pension and federal tax codes. And while their experience and knowledge may be prized by school districts, the class of public employees is costing taxpayers in a practice commonly referred to as double-dipping.
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So, of course, our legislature has to enact new laws to prevent retirees from taking new public jobs, or something.
They will never learn. Pass a law to "fix" some perceived issue, and you end up with worse problems later on.
In this case, Walker's new law did not go far enough. He should have eliminated ALL public unions, root and branch. FDR had it right back when his "New Deal" prohibited public unions - one of the few good things I can find to say about the man.
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