Sources used in this document:

In some districts, however, the teachers' unions and the district administrators are working more closely with each other, and with an understanding of economic realities, in ways that allow the districts to reduce costs while still providing valuable and necessary benefits to its teachers. Hernando County, Florida, is the site of one such success story; though the union asked for a raise in recent contract negotiations, it did not insist on one, instead accepting an increase in healthcare benefit payments to offset Blue Cross/Blue Shield's premium hike of fourteen percent (Marrero 2009). Though no one emerged from the deal exactly ecstatic about the situation, there was a sense of realism and pragmatism that has been notably lacking in the loud and vociferous insistences of both teachers' unions and administrative offices in many other districts and at other institutions (Marrero 2009).

Conclusion

It is still abysmal and largely unacceptable that educational districts and institutions entered into contracts that they were unable to uphold. It is equally unacceptable that a growing number of educators facing retirement, or already retired, are unable to receive the pension payments and/or healthcare benefits upon which they depend. The situation is here, however, and no amount of unacceptability is going to change that. more schools, teachers, unions, and administrators should take the Hernando County example to heart, and realize that they must deal with the financial mess that they have been handed. Through compromise and a willingness to see the practical realities of the situation, true security can be created.