PATERSON — City school officials are considering changes to the district's employee health insurance coverage to save money, but public educators say the move will exacerbate the classroom teacher shortage in Paterson schools. claims.
Teachers speaking at last week's Paterson School Board meeting warned that switching health insurance to one with less coverage could force current employees to take higher-paying jobs in other school districts. Paterson currently has approximately 140 teaching vacancies, many of which are filled by substitutes.
School Board President Manny Martinez insisted during the meeting that “there is no plan” to drop the district's Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan and replace it with the Aetna Plan. Martinez said the change is just being discussed.
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“We need to consider all options,” Martinez said.
City education officials have not provided details on how much money districts could save if they switched their employees' health plans. Officials said about $14 million in savings were jeopardized when a similar measure was considered in 2022 and rejected by the school board.
In 2018, the district made changes to employee health insurance that officials said would result in $17 million in savings. However, the new coverage was found to have widespread problems and the cost savings were significantly lower than promised.
The district's preliminary 2023-24 budget includes an 8% tax increase and a $26 million gap between revenue and spending. Officials last week cited health insurance changes as one possible way to close the budget gap.
John McEntee Jr., president of the Paterson Education Association teachers union, told the school board last week that he regretted the “lack of advance notice” of a possible vote on the coverage change. Mr McEntee said he was relieved to see the issue was not on last week's agenda.
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Mr McEntee said the sudden change in coverage would “drive away talented people” and create instability that would undermine efforts to improve the quality of education in Paterson schools. The union president said some city teachers were “out of desperation” conducting virtual interviews from their cars during class breaks.
“Teachers are leaving. It's really sad,” Clara Bashurt, who teaches at School 25, told the school board last week. “The reason is because something like this happens.”
Priscilla Campagna, who has taught in Paterson since 2000, acknowledged the district's financial problems but implored the district not to “rely on the backs of teachers” to balance the budget.
“As you know, other districts are offering more money, and these changes may make the offer look even better to other districts,” Campagna said.
Two years ago, the school board voted by a narrow 5-4 vote not to switch to Aetna health insurance. However, four of the council members who voted against the change lost re-election in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, three of the members who voted in favor of the switch to cost-cutting remain on the board. They were joined this year by two new members whose candidacy was supported by a super PAC that endorsed them on anti-tax hike campaign flyers last fall.
