Schools in Crisis! Oops, I mean, NEA Bullshit!

If the Oregonian is shining a light on this, it must be bad-

Benefits eat schools' cash
Sunday, July 10, 2005
BETSY HAMMOND

Oregon lawmakers plan to give schools at least $300 million more over the next two years, but that won't bring relief from big class sizes and program cuts.
Instead, districts will have to spend it on health and pension benefits that dwarf the national average, an analysis by The Oregonian shows.
For each teacher, secretary, principal, janitor and other worker, Oregon schools paid an average of $18,300 for health insurance and retirement pay in 2002-03. That was 55 percent more than schools across the nation.

If Oregon were to match the national rate, schools would save about $500 million next year, money they could use to help reduce class sizes that are among the nation's largest.
"Taxpayers in Oregon are pumping money into the public education system that doesn't benefit the learning environment in classrooms one bit," says Jim Green, senior legislative advocate for the Oregon School Boards Association.
And, starting this month, the price gets higher.
As of July 1, school districts must pay 17 percent on top of salaries for state pension costs, up from 12 percent the past two years.
Average health insurance premiums paid by Oregon school districts are rising an average of 12 percent a year, according to an analysis by the consulting firm ECONorthwest.
With more than 55,000 full-time workers in Oregon schools, the costly employee benefits add up to more than $2 billion over two years.

Read it if you are sick of the hyperbole-