SHOPKO TEACHER DAY

This past summer, Shopko held the 3rd annual “teacher discount day” at all their stores. A Shopko news release announcing the 1st “discount day” in 2006
states, in part: “Recognizing that teachers often use their personal funds to provide supplies for their classrooms, Shopko has announced that all teachers will receive a 15% discount on purchases for an entire day at Shopko.” The president of Shopko stated: “We wanted to reward teachers for the extra things they do for their students” and “This discount day is one way we can save teachers a little money…”.

Being a freedom loving American, I would never presume to tell Shopko what to do with
their own property. In fact, I think what they are doing for teachers is very nice. I would, however, be interested in knowing what percentage of dollars spent during this “discount day” are for classroom supplies verses personal items. Of course, I would also like to know what teachers actually do during all those “in service” days during the school year but I’m afraid these will remain mysteries.

In keeping with their social awareness and desire to help those that use personal funds to improve their work environment, I have a great idea for Shopko. Why not expand this program and have a special discount day for all private business owners and their employees! I think those of us in the private sector could use the discount every bit as much as teachers. Consider these numbers: According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average annual wage for all occupations in Wisconsin was $38,070 in 2007 and the average annual wage for teachers was $44,250. Considering that teachers work roughly nine months a year, their salary equates to $59,000 for a full year. This number does not include the incredibly generous benefit package available to public school teachers. Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance literature indicates that Wisconsin school districts pay over 95% of the premium for health insurance and virtually all of the cost of retirement benefits. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, school districts pay over 35 cents in benefits for every dollar of salaries. Contrast this with private sector employees who have seen a steady increase in the percentage of premiums paid for health insurance often coupled with a decrease in the quality of coverage. This is not meant as an indictment of business owners. What choice do they have? They can’t unilaterally raise the price of their product to cover these costs. If a widget manufacturer raises his price and sales drop, he can’t whine to his costumers “You don’t care about widgets!” as the teachers union does with the often heard mantra “It’s about the kids!” every time they are trying to shove another tax increase down our throats. Besides, if it was really about the kids, you would think there would be some correlation between costs and benefits in education.
I encourage Shopko to expand this wonderful program to include those in the private sector as recognition that they are paying a substantial percentage of personal income to provide health care for their family along with increasingly confiscatory tax rates to pay for government largess.