Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford/Erie) today introduced legislation to prevent school board members from voting on collective bargaining agreements if they have a conflict of interest.
“There are many instances where school board members can legally vote on union contracts that essentially bring more money into their own household and keep their out-of-pocket health insurance costs very low,” Roae said. “My legislation stops this. As two-thirds of a typical school district budget encompasses salaries, health insurance, pension and Social Security costs, school property taxes are often increased to cover the cost of large pay raises and low employee out-of-pocket health care.”
House Bill 1794 would require a school board member to abstain from voting on a collective bargaining agreement if a spouse, romantic partner or household resident is in the collective bargaining unit under consideration.
“Local employers on average require employees pay about $400 a month towards employer-based health insurance compared to some local school boards that have approved contracts as low as $60 a month,” Roae said. “Add to this that local teacher salaries are higher than the Commonwealth’s average. This is a recipe for fiscal irresponsibility. It is a conflict of interest for a school board member to vote on agreements that keep their own household expenses low and salaries high, which necessitates hikes in property taxes for those living in the area.”
The 6th Legislative District includes the city of Meadville; Beaver, Conneaut, East Fairfield, East Fallowfield, East Mead, Fairfield, Greenwood, Hayfield, North Shenango, Pine, Randolph, Sadsbury, South Shenango, Spring, Summerhill, Summit, Union, Vernon, Wayne, West Fallowfield, West Mead and West Shenango townships; and Cochranton, Conneaut Lake, Conneautville, Linesville and Springboro boroughs in Crawford County and Conneaut, Elk Creek and Springfield townships and Albion and Cranesville boroughs in Erie County.
