Ala. Board Suggests Teachers Pay More For Benefits

PHILLIP RAWLS

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Teachers and other education employees could have to pay more for their retirement and health insurance benefits under a financial plan proposed Thursday by the Alabama Board of Education.

The board voted unanimously for what state Superintendent of Education Joe Morton called "a plan of survival" after two years of budget cuts and what looks like more lean funding for the 2010-2011 school year.

The board recommended to the governor that:

—the percentage of the state education budget that goes for K-12 schools be increased by slightly more than 1 percentage point.

—education employees start paying 6 percent of their salary toward retirement rather than 5 percent.

—the state education budget provide no increase for health insurance and retirement benefits for the next school year.

The plan would force the health insurance program to cut benefits or raise the amount that educators pay. Any changes would require the approval of the governor and the Legislature.