Teachers Spending Your Taxdollars on Cosmetic Surgery

The hard earned cash that you earn everyday is being used to pay for school and your child's education are being used to pay for of all things COSMETIC SURGERY and to the tune of $ 9,000,000. 00 in 2009.

www.myfoxny.com...

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The state-appointed authority overseeing Buffalo public school finances says taxpayer-covered cosmetic surgery rung up by the city's teachers totaled nearly $9 million in 2009.

related link

www.foxnews.com...

On Aug. 5, the Senate approved a bill (HR 1586) that would increase Medicaid funding to states and provide funds to states to prevent layoffs of teachers. The bill includes $10 billion for teachers and $16.1 billion for Medicaid reimbursements to states. Republicans call the bill a political payoff to teachers' unions. The House passed the bill and President Obama signed it on Tuesday.

so teachers,unions,their own healthcare,medicaid and someone tell me why now if they already have their own healthcare do they even get medicaid?

union payoffs never end and you are footing the bill those people get the "free cosmetic surgery" at your expense while you have to save and work if you wanted to get it.

people doesn't this infuriate you? this is the progressive left at the top is idiocy when are we going to stand up to big union and big government stupidity?


relate links:

news.yahoo.com...
taxdollars.ocregister.com...
www.syracuse.com...

reply to post by neo96


I dont get what you a trying to say here. Whats the big deal?

Well, they got an insurance plan through negotiations that covered certain cosmetic procedures and apparently 450 of the teachers took advantage of that benefit. What bothers me is that the average cost per procedure is $20,000 based on the numbers in article.

Luckily...

The president of the teachers' union says the union has agreed to give up the benefit in the next contract.

In regards to the the question about Medicaire/Medicaid...

so teachers,unions,their own healthcare,medicaid and someone tell me why now if they already have their own healthcare do they even get medicaid?

I don't understand your point...The bill mentioned in your second link was a dual purpose bill. It provided medicaid funding to the states AND provided funding for teachers in order to prevent layoffs. This would seem to be something seperate from cosmetic surgery.

Also, there is no indication that

those people get the "free cosmetic surgery"

just from the article you posted. Perhaps it is discounted such as with a dental plan (50% coverage with $500 copay, etc)

reply to post by rogerstigers


this is my problem why is government getting involved on state matters

teacher unions are state problems to begin with someone oh say living in texas is paying for benefits in new york

another person in indiana is paying for benefits in new york in both instances their tax dollars that they are shelling out doesn't benefit either state but one.

when it comes to education in general and teacher unions they can and should be taking care of themselves thats what their state tax dollars go for and dependent on demographic they should adjust accordingly.

this is my problem in a nutshell everyone pays and a select group profit and others do not get anything and of all things elective surgery and elective surgery is not life threatening.

reply to post by neo96


Now that I can agree with. The idea of a federal department of education has never really set well with me. Especially after I have seen the effects of federal standards like "no child left behind" which effectively made so no child was left behind by bring everyone DOWN to the same level.

So yeah, I see your point when it comes to federal groups giving money to state groups and then, as in this case, those state groups caving into Unions for goofy benefits.

reply to post by oliveoil



my problems are these:

1 the union negotiated for this in the first place
2 teachers are getting paid by taxpayer dime
3 the state signed off on that contract

and the government is paying off the teacher unions.

reply to post by neo96


This is but an example of a larger problem: Govt and Union collaboration.

I would suggest not getting lost in the details (will drive you crazy) and focus on the bigger picture.

Govt and Union relationships are longstanding and benefit each other. Therein lies the problem...

reply to post by LadySkadi


i totally agree government+unions will always get the rest of us peons the shaft.

both entities need some form of check from the people.

reply to post by neo96


The people don't seem to be able to "check" anything though, even when they are motivated to act. Example: the TARP bailout. How many millions were against that? How many people wrote to Sen. and Congressman about voting it down?

ETA: Here is a very interesting perspective on Labor Unions from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, I used it as a source in this thread on Union discussion. The thread may or may not be relevant, but the article is definitely worth the read. I think it brings up some very good questions.

Most of those surgeries were breast implants, so you aren't going to see me complaining! This can only improve society.

reply to post by LadySkadi


good read on that link thanks!

Economists who study unions—including some who are avowedly prounion—analyze them as cartels

did they ever get that right same tactics.

U.S. unions enjoy many legal privileges. Unions are immune from taxation and from antitrust laws. Companies are legally compelled to bargain with unions in “good faith.”

that it totally and utterly ridiculous now i wonder who wrote that in to law.

Labor unions cannot prosper in a competitive environment.

they know this and this is why we hear "workers of the world unite"

Like other successful cartels, they depend on government patronage and protection.

government and unions will always be best buds for the power of their votes and to keep the money pot coming.


good find ladi glad you linked it

Teachers need duck lips

reply to post by Lysergic


Ug, what a waste... that gal's lips were perfect before the surgery.

you guys are growing donkey ears! Pillorying teachers for getting benefits in their work contracts....

Let me set you straight. I'm a former teacher, and I am married to one.

When I left teaching, I made 35,000 a year. My day started at 7 and generally ended at 5. I worked in dropout recovery, and I helped a lot of kids graduate. I left to get an advanced degree, and the market dried up.

My wife teaches math. Also in dropout recovery. She also gets in early, leaves late. We still manage to parent 3 kids and still has time to tutor, grade and handle the miscellaneous stuff.

Before you badmouth teachers, realize that the majority of us don't make average wages for our education. We don't do this for a paycheck, and in many states there is no 'tenure' so there are no guaranteed contracts... Most of us do this out of love for what we teach, and the fact that we help students.

So, for those of you who think the education system is soooooo bad that a monkey and a stick could be better educators, go get your teacher's certificate and go run a class. Between the drugs, the bad attitudes, the sense of entitlement that many students have, if you get even half to listen to you and attempt to understand the material, then rock on with your bad self...

Until you can walk this mile, you can kindly park your opinions where it belongs, where the sun don't shine.

reply to post by MagoSA


Star for you - I also work(ed) in Alternative education at the high school level and I completely understand your point of view when it comes to outside attitudes regarding teachers and education.

My personal beef is Govt/Union co-dependence on the large scale... perhaps a different topic, perhaps not.

reply to post by MagoSA


I don't believe any of us were bad moputhing teachers. I know from direct discussion with my daughter's teachers that they HATE the system they have to work in. The beef here is the fed taking over what should really be a state issue and the unions putting forth rediculous benefits.

Well, just to clarify a few things here.

It is not your federal Tax dollars that go to Education, but your State and Local Municipal Taxes that do. The federal government spends only $54 million on Education a year and that goes to the Department of Education, not to teachers or schools (unless you are a school for the blind or deaf). Other than overseeing education in the U.S., the federal government has a Laissaz-Faire attitude towards education, letting States and Local Municipalities decide for themselves how to fund schools and for how much.

Now, State and Local Municipal Taxes paying for Teacher Union negotiated Healthcare is one thing. The good people of Buffalo NY are paying for Group Rate Healthcare Insurance benefits...just like many other Americans get for working in the private sector. If a teacher goes out and gets plastic surgery or their teeth whitened it is not the Taxpayers paying that out of pocket. It is the Insurance Companies paying that minus the deductible they charged the Insurance holder. All that the State and Local Taxpayers are actually paying is their Insurance Premiums. Taxpayers are not paying for any procedures they choose to have done while enjoying being Insured.

So, to say that Federal Taxpayers are paying for teachers getting Cosmetic Surgery is doubly wrong! This is sensationalistic reporting at best. The translation of the hysteric headline should read "State and City Taxpayers are paying for Teacher Healthcare Insurance Premiums"...but of course then there would be nothing to see here and nothing to get upset about and ratings would plummet.

As far as the H.R. Bill to earmark $15 billion dollars of the discretionary budget to be given to the States to use to retain teachers, are we honestly supposed to expect this to be so every teacher in America can get breast implants and a tummy-tuck? This H.R. Bill is to help make teaching more competitive, offering the same benefits package a Minimum Wage Employee at Walmart or Target would get, lest we start loosing what few experienced teachers we have left for working the Janitorial shift at Walmart so that they can provide basic Healthcare for their families.

Originally posted by rogerstigers
reply to post by neo96

 

Now that I can agree with. The idea of a federal department of education has never really set well with me. Especially after I have seen the effects of federal standards like "no child left behind" which effectively made so no child was left behind by bring everyone DOWN to the same level.

A bit of history from the ground level on NCLB....

NCLB is predicated on the Houston Miracle, where HISD, claiming rigorous testing and other shenanigans, took a district on the edge of total failure and turned it around. Bush II (yes, that one) took this and implemented on a national level what was, in fact, a total sham... numbers were faked, kids listed as transferred that were drop outs, and so on and so forth until it smelled great if you didn't dig too deep.

Add the fact that Bush never funded it and left it to sink or swim on its own... this is why NCLB a beast who should be slain...

The DOE ensures a few things all people like and ignore - kids being able to go from one school to another without repeating classes, general parity of classes, Algebra I is Algebra I, regardless of whether it was at a Navajo tribal school or Texas Military Institute.

RogersTigers, I am not calling you out... I just wanted to make a point and your comment led me to it. Thanks.

So yeah, I see your point when it comes to federal groups giving money to state groups and then, as in this case, those state groups caving into Unions for goofy benefits.

Goofy is when McDonalds pays the school to open a store in the school (Southwest ISD looked at this option) to cope with the lack of funds from the Dept of Ed in order to comply with NCLB. The fact that this mandate was underfunded and unplanned to the point of ludicrosity (is that a word?) should point out that among other things, the reasons things seems so askance when we look at them from the outside is that districts are swamped and dying under the pressure to conform to a badly-structured mandate based on a lie that was exposed yet still adhered to as gospel...

Earlier I made a comment about how most teachers are on the short end of the stick concerning benefits in regards to someone ragging about how teachers are wasting this that and the other. Insurance benefits are not tied to federal money - districts (at least here in texas) make money primarily tied to the property taxes of the district's homeowners. The only federal money that comes to schools is in regards to the various Title compliances that are present in the district (Title IX, Title I, and others) and those do not tie into unions or other things. Union contracts are between districts and the teachers, not the state (at least here in TX). Title money can't fund benefits, AFAIK.

So, the benefits you guys are complaining about are between the union and the district. One district is not tied to another - they are like cities in a county/parish. Some things are done as a whole, but most are independent of one another.

I still hold that we are on the short end of the stick for our education peers and for work done, so any and all benefits that a district provides its teachers are gravy for an unappreciated and underrespected job. I still also hold that if you think you can do better and we educators are just a suck-ass bunch of idiots, you can come walk this mile.

Originally posted by fraterormus
It is not your federal Tax dollars that go to Education, but your State and Local Municipal Taxes that do.

...you very well may be right there - but - its my understanding that none of our taxes (fed or state) goes to anyone but the federal reserve and what we pay in doesnt even pay the interest we owe... so, the federal reserve lends our federal government operating capital and that is re-allocated to states after certain "areas" get their allocation...

...have you ever heard that?...