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Common Dreams reports
Colorado's teachers' union expects more than 400 teachers at a rally that's planned for Monday at the state's Capitol in Denver.
[...] Englewood School District, outside the capital city, announced on Sunday that schools would be closed the following day as 70 percent of its teachers had indicated they wouldn't be working Monday. It was unclear on Sunday whether more school districts would be closing.
"We are calling Monday, April 16th a day of action", Kerrie Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), told KDVR in Denver.
[...] According to[1] KMGH in Denver, "The CEA estimates that teachers spend on average $656 of their own money for school supplies for students." The state's teacher salaries rank 46th out of 50, with educators making an average of $46,000 per year.
Public schools are underfunded by $828 million this year, Dallman told the Post, and lawmakers have said they could inject at least $100 million more into schools--but they have yet to do so.
[...] The planned protest follows a trend that was seen in West Virginia and Kentucky before moving west this month to Oklahoma and Arizona as well as Colorado. In all the states where teachers have walked out and rallied at their Capitols, teachers have reported paying for school supplies out of pocket, working second and third jobs to make ends meet, and coping with funding shortages while their legislators hand out tax cuts to corporations.
[1] For a laugh (or perhaps a deep sigh), check out all the whitespace in the source code of the page.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Monday April 16 2018, @05:48PM (1 child)
Some states expanded Medicaid to help cover those with zero income.
The state of Georgia, which I am in, was not one of those.
Subsidies only apply to those with low income. Anyone in the state of Georgia with zero income is fucked.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @07:44PM
I'm not talking about zero-income people here, I'm talking about lower middle class, and some "working poor". I have a friend in TX who doesn't make a whole lot, but makes over $15k. They get free health insurance through Obamacare. If they made less than $13 or 14k I think, they'd be stuck with Medicaid, but because they're over that threshold, they qualify for Obamacare with full subsidy. Honestly, it seems like the system (in that state at least) is set up to screw people who don't make any money (by sticking them with Medicaid, which is pretty crappy), and to reward people who work full-time, even if it's just minimum-wage. This friend's plan is a silver plan with Blue Cross even, with zero deductible; it's better than my plan that I have as a highly-paid tech worker!
Teachers aren't zero-income. They don't make a lot, but they should qualify for some subsidy under Obamacare, though again this will vary by state. If they're only making $30k or so, they should be getting pretty good insurance rates these days. It's the people like me (or much worse, my well-paid coworkers who have spouses and kids) who are getting screwed with high insurance rates. I'm not complaining *too* much mind you; I'd rather help subsidize poorer people so they aren't going without insurance and necessary medical care even if that cuts into my take-home pay, so I think it's better than what we had before, but I'd rather have a single-payer European-style system. But again I think this varies a lot by state; some states seem to have really horrible insurance rates and plans under ACA (like VA). TX doesn't seem to be bad at all.