You know what is easy? Standing on a pitchers mound and having just get the ball to home plate 60 feet, 6 inches away. I'm 54 and a lefty. Dang I can do it! Heck, my son was able to do it at the age of 8!

MORE is turning into the Ba Ba Booey (Gary Dell'abate) of UFT caucuses by completely fucking something that easy up.

Instead of fighting for ATRs, work rules, working conditions, getting rid of the lawyers that permeate the DOE, fair student funding, teacher safety, teacher happiness, or any other of the myriad of other wants and needs we have going forward as we approach a new contract next year. MORE has decided to do the opposite. Or as one member has said...

"Dwindling health care benefits in exchange for a raise that will not help us meet the rate of inflation in NYC is a major problem for us."

This is the priority.


Yes, there are things I do not like. I do not like paying $50 to go to an urgent care center when the alternative is to see my GP when I have a cold or need to get in last minute. That is unless I go to Advantage Care Physicians which there is a $0 copay. The only issue I have is that there are 0 ACP offices in Westchester County. It does me no good.


I don't care for the $150 copay for the ER. Yes, I know it is waived if admitted, but not all ER visits necessitate being admitted.

I am not happy that first year teachers will have to spend their first year in HIP. But,most of these teachers will be young and healthy and do not need the care that the more mature teacher desires. Besides, I'm sure a goodly amount of the MORE people are young or living still on mommy and daddy's insurance 

I have no problem if my copays go up another $5. I really don't care. I have had a life without insurance. My right shoulder is a mess because I did not have insurance when I dislocated it. A dear friend of mine is dead because he did not have insurance.


What I do like is that I am paying $0 a month for GHI. That my wife has about $200k of hardware in her back, spent a week in Lenox Hill Hospital and two weeks in BurkeRehab Hospital and we only owe about $200.


I'm grateful for the hernia surgery I had last month was $0. I'm grateful that when my son broke his hand and needed surgery 5 years ago that the only cost was driving to NYU.

But again, another problem with MORE is they just can't or refuse to roll up the sleeves and see the world around them. In others words, REALITY. They think we have it bad.


Well The Crack Team did roll up it's sleeves and wishes to share a major dose of reality on the kiddies at MORE about health coverage across the country. These are true stories from real teachers.

I pay a little more than $450 a month for my daughter and me and ewe each have a $3000 deductible with a $5600 out of pocket maximum per year. We live in Idaho.

$1200/month for family coverage. $15 copay for doctor visits. In NJ, our healthcare contribution is based on our salaries so if you make more, you pay more for the same coverage. That jackass Christie came up with that. Prick. Can't live on my take home anymore.

For Chicago Public schools I pay about $18 a month for insurance, put in about $100 a month to an HSA w/ $600 contributed by CPS for the year, w/ a $2000 deductible. The insurance helps negotiate prices but basically doesn't pay anything until the deductible is met.

$350 a month premium, matched by the state (HI teacher), so $700 a month in premiums, $20 copay for everything, extra for lab work, TONS of other fees. They wanted $700 for an MRI that traumatized me to the core of my being and am refusing to pay.

I am paying $1400+ per month for coverage for a family of three. I would cheerfully choke someone out to pay $600 per month.

Albuquerque Public Schools, high option plan for family of 4 - approx $650/month, plus co-pays and percentage cost-sharing (which seem to get higher all the time!) $25-$40 co-pays for appts, $50 Urgent Care,  $150 ER, percentage of everything else.

I'm a public school teacher in the state of Rhode Island and I pay almost $400 a month for a single healthcare plan. I have different deductibles to meet for different things but just for regular doctors I have to meet $250 and then my co-pays Kickin, to go to a walk-in clinic it's now $100 and to see your primary care it's $25. I am ashamed that our state does this. Good for you and your school district not charging the teachers are ridiculous amount for health care. Best of luck on the rest of your school year.

In Michigan (law change in 2012) we now are required to pay 20% of the cost of premium.  A high deductible ($2700) with HSA account costs $270 a month for full family.  Same policy with coinsurance (%20 after deductible) costs $140 month for full family.  We formed a county consortium to pool policy members and help reduce the costs.  Before the consortium, we were paying $320 a month for the full family high deductible policy; which was our only option.

We do not use our district insurance because the premium is $1265 per month for our family of 4. Yes you read that right. Nevada has the worst insurance coverage in the nation for teachers.

$104 a month for the least expensive choice through my district, which includes my husband and two kids, dental and vision.  $7000 deductible, $10 doctor, $25 specialist, $52 urgent care, $75 ER (unless admitted, then there is no co-pay). 

It's time for MORE to stop sniffing its own farts and get a reality check not only concerning the rank and file but life as well. 

So there I am this morning about 8:35 minding my own business, eating my breakfast, and having the latest in a long line of discussions whether or not the Freemasons control the NYCDOE when someone walks in the room asking to see me.

I knew what it was about at once but played dumb just in case I was wrong. It was to notify me that my 4 month suspension was to commence tomorrow, June 3, and I return to the ATR pool on December 4. All this without pay.

I will give the person at the Rubber Room at Zerega credit for not making me immediately leave the building and gave me a good 45 minutes to let me process what had just happened and say goodby to my colleagues. I am grateful for this as well grateful for knowing the people that I shared that room with.

I am grateful as well for keeping my job and only being suspended for 4 months. I know it could have been a lot worse.

I'm kind of lucky getting suspended when I did. My next check should be paid in full and my summer pay should be more or less unaffected. That means I am looking at September through December without pay. Fortunately, we were anticipating something like this and we planned accordingly. I am also going to apply for unemployment and that should help.

I have one major concern though. My health and welfare benefits.

I have been getting mixed messages from too many people at the Welfare Fund, UFT, and HR that either I have a 30 day grace period or my benefits end immediately. If I get the 30 day grace period I am good, but there is a but.

The 30 days should take me to the summer. I am not suspended during the summer, only during the school year. I will be getting paid through the summer and my deductions for the UFT and GHI will or have already be taken out. The problem is that no one can tell me whether or not I will be covered during the summer.

If I am being punished for 4 months (June, September, October, and November) why then if I can;t access my benefits during the summer will my punishment then be for 6 months? It does not make sense nor is it logical.

I am in the process of finding out this information right now. Several people that I trust are working on it and hopefully I will get an answer soon.

Then there is COBRA. The Welfare fund is about $225/month and GHI is about $1k/month. That comes to $1200 per month or $7,200 for six months or $4,800 for 4 months. We do not have that kind of money.

And we need coverage.

To begin, I am diabetic and need my medications as well as needing to continually see my endocrinologist. Along with diabetes comes a slew of other health concerns that can pop up at any time.

Worse off is my wife.

My wife has had two back surgeries over the last 16 years. One a laminectomy in 1999 and removal of a cyst in 2008. For the last 6 months or so her pain has been getting worse and shooting down her leg. We went to see one of the top spine surgeons in the area the last few week and she had an MRI as well. The diagnosis is not good.

Her back is a mess. Not only does she have several discs bulging out but she is scoliosis and stenosis as well. The cure is a 6 hour fusion starting at the L3 and going up to her thoracic region. But the doctor can't do surgery now.

She has a major Vitamin D deficiency which is precluding the doctor from surgery. He said at this point he can't be sure the bones will heal properly. But what she can do is physical therapy for the next 3 months and hopefully building up the muscle around her spine and her stomach will help her a great deal.

As some people know my wife had suffered a series of seizures early last year which those at Westchester Medical Center were never able to figure out the cause. After seeing a neurologist 2 weeks ago he speculated that the reason is the Vitamin D deficiency but can't be sure. She has an MRI scheduled this Saturday to see what is going on in her head.

She is also on a medication that she can't stop taking. If she does, she is dead. Heck there are medications I must take and it won't be good if I go without.

So, I will be out about $28k in gross pay and no insurance for either 4 or 6 months. Great.

Just gives me more to ask for from the City of New York in the lawsuit. For those that are interested court is next Wednesday, June 10, at New York Supreme Court on Chambers St. Contact me if you are interested in coming.

Thank you for allowing me my rant.