Good evening,
This is Paul Marks, a teacher at SoHi. As always, I want to thank you for the work that you do to keep the school district running. Normally, I try to keep things positive and light. I apologize for how what I am about to write deviates from that.
I have spoken to you before about how the "cap" on the district's contributions to employee healthcare disproportionately affects our most economically disadvantaged employees. The insurance cap is a punitive measure against employees for conditions outside of their control. It allows for the district to stall out negotiations. In fact, it presents a financial incentive for the district to drag negotiations for as long as possible. Meanwhile, the employees--especially those who receive the least in compensation--are bludgeoned by this bullying technique both financially and emotionally.
Today, we discovered that your bargaining team rejected our bargaining team's offer which, among other things, asked to remove the "cap." Later, we received further word that your bargaining team stated that removing the cap is not an option.
I found myself consoling my friend and classroom neighbor, Lisa Thomas. She took the news particularly hard and asked me to speak with you on her behalf as the subject is too painful for her. I had hoped to do so at the special board meeting today, but as this topic was not open to public comment, I am sending this open email instead:
"I have terminal cancer. My disease is not due to poor decisions on my part. I eat healthy and exercise regularly, and got cancer anyway. Now, I am in a continual battle for every second of my life. Cancer looms over everything I do. Just staying alive, let alone active, requires expensive medicine that our insurance thankfully covers. There is no way I could pay for this on my own. To be clear, if I do not take this medicine, I will die.
"Every time the district talks about the rising expenses from employee healthcare, I take it as a personal assault. It's as though the district is blaming me for wanting to live, and then penalizing me and my coworkers for costs that I cannot avoid. I have wondered if I should quit this job that I love just to save my coworkers the expense of keeping me alive. On top of all of the difficulties that this disease brings to me, I should not have guilt heaped upon me for wanting to live."
Please encourage your negotiating team to not trivialize the healthcare needs of our district's employees. Please instruct them to remove the cap.
Sincerely,
Paul Marks