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Being a teacher is hard, if you have pharmaceutical help.
Topic Started: Aug 8 2010, 09:03 AM (164 Views)
George K
Member Avatar
Finally
It's come to this...

Milwaukee teachers fight for Viagra drug coverage

With the district in a financial crisis and hundreds of its members facing layoffs, the Milwaukee teachers union is taking a peculiar stand: fighting to get its taxpayer-funded Viagra back.

The union has asked a judge to order the school board to again include Pfizer Inc.'s erectile dysfunction drug and similar pills in its health insurance plans.

The filing is the latest in a two-year legal campaign in which the union has argued, so far unsuccessfully, that the board's policy of excluding erectile dysfunction drugs discriminates against male employees. The union says Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and others are necessary treatment for "an exclusively gender-related condition."

But lawyers for the school board say the drugs were excluded in 2005 to save money, and there is no discrimination because they are used primarily for recreational sex and not out of medical necessity.

The filing last month comes as the union, the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, is also protesting hundreds of layoff notices issued to teachers for the coming school year. Citing a "financial crisis" caused by exploding benefit costs and revenue shortfalls, the district's outgoing superintendent proposed laying off 682 employees in April.

The district gave layoff notices to 482 teachers in June, but recalled 89 of them last month. Additional teachers may be called back, but these are still the first layoffs of Milwaukee teachers in decades.

At least one lawmaker questioned why the union is fighting for Viagra while teachers are losing their jobs. A consultant for the school board has estimated that reinstating the drug benefit would cost $786,000 per year — the cost to keep perhaps a dozen first-year teachers employed.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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brenda
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..............
Priorities.
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
~A.A. Milne
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Prince Albert
Newbie
:lol2:
You really don't want an avatar, do you?
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
I have to agree with the school. Almost $1M for teacher woodies? Nahhhhh.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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blondie
Bull-Carp
Whoa. Wait a sec. Like how much exactly do those little blue pills cost anyway? Any of you guys know?
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Rainman
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Fulla-Carp
I keep receiving the same spam:
Viagra Regular Strength
Viagra PROFESSIONAL Strength

Of course I won't click the link, but it is tempting. I mean, geez, "professional strength!"

As for the teachers, of course it should be paid for. Nationwide, everyone complains that teachers are not hard enough. . . :hearteyes:
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