Teacher layoffs create more public sympathy for increasing education funding than wage freezes. However, school districts could freeze wages and have employees contribute to health benefits rather than laying off thousands of employees. Education Week reports on New Jersey Gov. Christies’s call for a wage freeze:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that he has a way for school districts to avoid layoffs even after their state and federal funding is slashed.
His solution: Get all public school employees to agree to salary freezes for the upcoming year, and to agree to start contributing to their health insurance costs. . . .
“If we really want to put children first,” said the governor, who has often been critical of the raises of more than 4 percent routinely received by educators. “We should put the children first, and that mean we will have to sacrifice.”