Wisconsin Teachers' Strike

For whatever reason, this did not make headlines - or even back-page news - in most outlets:

Remember the demonstrations over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doing away with collective bargaining for teachers? The results are in. Some school districts went from a $400,000 deficit to a $1,500,000 surplus as a result. They are even hiring new teachers, not firing, as most thought. Why?

It seems that the insurance company that provided all the "benefits" to the teachers was an insurance company owned by the union - the WEA (Wisconsin Education Association) Trust. Since it was guaranteed to get the insurance business from the teachers, and the State - not the teachers - had to pay for it, the insurance company was increasing costs every year and had become the most expensive insurance company in the State. The company, in turn, was donating millions of dollars to its favorite pro-union politicians who, when they got elected, guaranteed to keep funding the union's outrageous costs. In other words, the insurance company was a "pass through" for Wisconsin taxpayer money being fed directly to the pro-union politicians.This appears to be what is going on in other states.

Now that the State of Wisconsin is free to put the insurance contract out for bids, it has saved so much money it has turned deficits into surplus amounts. As a result, teachers were not laid off en masse and the taxpayers of Wisconsin don't have to pay higher taxes to fund the union's political favorites.

Here is the article:http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs

My fact-checking led me to this:

 http://www.publicschoolspending.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/WEATrustfinalreport1.pdf