PATERSON — City school officials are considering changing the district’s employee health insurance coverage to save money, a move that rank-and-file educators say would exacerbate Paterson’s shortage of classroom teachers.
Teachers who spoke at last week’s Paterson Board of Education meeting warned that switching medical insurance to inferior coverage may prompt current staff members to take better-paying jobs in other districts. Paterson currently has about 140 vacant teaching jobs, many of which are being filled by substitutes.
School board president Manny Martinez asserted during the meeting that there was “no plan in place” for dropping the district’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan and replacing it with Aetna. Martinez said the change was simply being discussed.
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“We have to consider all options,” Martinez said.
City education officials have not revealed any details about how much the district could save if it switched employee medical plans. In 2022, officials said about $14 million in savings were at stake when a similar move was considered and rejected by the school board.
In 2018, the district changed its employee health insurance, which officials said would produce $17 million in savings. But there were widespread problems with the new coverage and the cost savings turned out to be significantly lower than what had been promised.
The district’s preliminary budget figures for 2023-24 include an 8% tax increase as well as a $26 million gap between revenues and expenses. Officials last week cited a change in health insurance as one of the potential ways to close that budget gap.
John McEntee Jr., the president of the Paterson Education Association teachers’ union, told the school board last week that he was dismayed by “the lack of prior notice” about a possible vote on the coverage change. McEntee said he was relieved to see the issue was not on last week’s agenda.
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McEntee said sudden changes in coverage would “drive talented individuals away” and create instability that would undermine efforts to improve the quality of education in Paterson schools. The union president said some city teachers “out of desperation” were doing virtual job interviews from their cars during breaks in their class schedules.
“Teachers are leaving, it’s really sad,” Clara Basyurt, who teaches at School 25, told the school board last week. “The reason is because of things like this.”
Priscilla Campagna, who has taught in Paterson since 2000, acknowledged the district’s financial problems, but implored the district not to balance its budget “on the backs of our teachers.”
“As you know, other districts are offering more money,” Campagna said, “and these changes may just make the offers look even better to them.”
Two years ago, the school board’s decision not to switch to Aetna health coverage came in a tight 5-4 vote. But four of the members who voted against making the change lost their bids for re-election in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, three of the members who voted in favor of the cost-cutting switch remain on the board. They have been joined by two new members this year whose candidacies were backed last fall by a super PAC that endorsed them in anti-tax-increase campaign fliers.