I actually agree with this - let the school districts handle the pension funds - but a BIG proviso would be that the state cannot mandate ANYTHING to the local districts regarding pensions.
Let the local people learn what they’re paying for the cadillac pension plans and decide if they want to keep it up.
The state has to butt out entirely.
You’ve got that absolutely right. Let it be handled at the local level. Force unions to fight a thousand brushfires instead of just one biggie. Its always easier to spend money when you kick things upstairs. If the buck stops on your block the spenders have a much harder time.
You think a local school district has the financial clout to take on the CTA, the AFT, or the NEA? Really???
There is no question that by the right of free association the teachers may unionize. The problem is one of relative scale. The unions should be subject to antitrust laws, even on a local level but not beyond the scope of the people with whom they are contracting.
The state will now have more money for discretionary spending.
Let's hope other states don't get the same ideas.
The state has already incurred an obligation, they should not be allowed to off-load that obligation on to the local communities. The state can stop paying pensions for future employees, or adding to the pension accounts of current employees.
I think, as a matter of law, the government should never be allowed to pay employees with deferred compensation, like pensions. There’s too much temptation to buy votes with future taxpayers’ dollars.