Flashback: Milwaukee School District Spent $786,000/year On Viagra For Teachers

Just to put into perspective what’s going on in Wisconsin right now with the showdown between the unions and the majority Republicans elected to lead the state, there’s this story from last August:

Two years ago, the Milwaukee school district decided that it was more interested in enhancing teacher performance in the classroom than the bedroom. The district cut Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis and Levitra from its health insurance plan, hoping to save $786,000 a year. Officials said too many teachers were using the expensive drugs for recreation, swelling their insurance rates. An estimated 1,000 of the 10,000 school’s staff, which includes employees, dependents and retirees, were using the drugs. Now, teachers are fighting to get the benefit back with a lawsuit. The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) argues that the new policy discriminates unfairly against men and “creates barriers” to receiving necessary medical treatment.

The unions are casting the Wisconsin budget cuts as slashing the compensation of overworked and underpaid public workers. Truth be told, the cuts are about bringing the compensation and benefits for those workers back down to something more reasonable. Read more at sayanythingblog.com