Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren voice support for Decatur teaching assistants

Dec. 20--DECATUR -- The dispute between Decatur teaching assistants and the school district gained national attention Thursday when Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren voiced support for the union on Twitter.

Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, first shared a video from the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants that features parents, union members and union leaders expressing their thoughts on healthcare coverage and fair wages. Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, shared the same video several hours later. Both offered messages of support for the teaching assistants, whose months-long battle with the school district has focused heavily on the cost of health insurance.

"I support Decatur's teaching assistants in their fight for a fair contract," Sanders wrote on Twitter shortly after 10:30 a.m. "As president, we will invest in our educators -- and I will fight for Medicare for All to ensure that no worker has to walk a picket line to afford health care for their families."

"Educators deserve fair pay and good benefits that allow them to take care of themselves and their families," Warren wrote around 5 p.m. "I stand with (the Illinois Federation of Teachers) and the Decatur teaching assistants -- they deserve a #FairContract now."

The union's 275 members include Decatur hearing interpreters, licensed practical nurses, hearing-vision technicians and teaching assistants. Union leaders have said that members cannot afford cost increases for health insurance coverage that are being proposed by the school district. District officials say the plans being offered, including a high-deductible option with lower premiums, are reasonable.

Both Sanders and Warren have focused heavily on healthcare costs in their presidential campaigns, calling for "Medicare for All," a government-run health care system that would cover all Americans and eliminate private insurance. Sanders has long advocated for such a system, also a key component of his 2016 presidential campaign. Warren says her three-year implementation of Medicare for All would allow Americans to keep their existing coverage or try out the government plan.

The video shared by both candidates was produced by the union's national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers. It was posted Monday evening after the Decatur union and school district met with a federal mediator but did not reach an agreement, the latest development in talks that began in April. The teaching assistants went on strike for three days in October, returning to work after learning that they would lose their health insurance benefits.

Bargaining sessions came to a pause in October when members of the union went on strike for three days.

"Affordable family healthcare is definitely a nationwide issue that has hit Decatur," union president Paula Busboom told the Herald & Review on Thursday, speaking before Warren's tweet. "It is a shame that Decatur Public School District is now receiving negative national attention. This does not help with recruitment of quality employees as a destination district. Kudos to Bernie Sanders for recognizing the issue and the impact it has on working people with families."

Sanders is running on the platform of Medicare for All, a program promoting single-payer, national health insurance to provide Americans with free, comprehensive healthcare coverage.

Denise Swarthout, the district's chief communications officer, said the district did not have a comment on the video.

"We are looking forward to the next round of negotiations," Swarthout said. The next session is scheduled for Jan. 6.

Jon Nadler, a field service director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers who is working with DFTA, said the issue is not unique to Decatur.

"I recognize that no school district can afford escalating costs," Nadler said. "Surely if the district can't afford it, than the individual employees can't afford it."

Teaching assistants currently pay $900 annually for single employee coverage and $3,300 for family coverage over 18 pay periods, or nine months of the year while they are working. The district's health insurance proposal offers a high-deductible plan with lower monthly premiums in addition to a comparable level of coverage with higher monthly premium costs.

Under the lower-deductible plan, costs would range from $1,471.56 for a single employee to $8,159.28 for family coverage in 2023, the final year of the contract. Monthly premiums for single employees would be covered by the district under the higher-deductible plan. Those with family coverage would pay $3,864 annually.

Costs for employees with a spouse or children would range from $5,500 and $5,700 under the lower-deductible plan and $2,300 to $2,400 for those with the higher deductible.

Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro

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Watch the video shared by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren at herald-review.com

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