After a first attempt by politicians to defund a state organization failed, the state Senate is now taking its turn at trying to get rid of the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council (MHBCCC).

A Senate subcommittee approved language that would stop the Department of Human Services from finding money to give to the MHBCCC. The appropriations committee tried last year to cut the money to the council, but the DHS found money elsewhere from within its budget to keep it alive.

The Michigan Home Based Child Care Council has been under the spotlight over concerns about how it was created.

The Michigan Home Based Child Care Council was set up as the employer of home-based day care workers. The state says there are as many as 70,000 home-based day care workers, some of whom said they had no idea they had been roped into a union that represents members of the MHBCCC. Those that collect money from the state for low-income clients are included in the union. The MHBCCC collected $2.5 million in union dues in 2009, according to its financial statement.

The Mackinac Center filed a lawsuit against the Department of Human Services after some day care providers complained that they were unionized against their will.

Now, the Senate is considering yet another way to end the MHBCCC.

A recommendation would go Tuesday to the Senate Appropriations Committee for approval. Then it would go to the state Senate for a vote and if approved, move on to the House, according to Kelly Bartlett, a legislative aide for Senator Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood.

"It's an attempt to take away their money," Bartlett said.

Senate Bill 1158 now has language specifically directing the DHS not to give any money to the MHBCCC or any organization that has the same functions. The bill also states that the department may not spent any money processing, distributing or dispersing union dues.

Bartlett said he felt the language in the bill was sufficient to end the MHBCCC.

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Other news and videos about this issue:

Sherry and Dawn's Story

Day Care in Wonderland

Litigation Backgrounder: Loar v. DHS

Is the MHBCCC Defunded?

Are You My Employer?

Stealth Unionization: Action and Inaction

Connecting the Day Care Union Dots

Zombie State Agency Finally Talks to Lawmakers

E-mails Reveal Child Care Union All About the Money

(Editor's note: A version of this article appeared in the May 9, 2010, Macomb Daily.)

About 70 percent of the Utica Community Schools' annual $260 million budget goes toward paying employees covered by its current collective bargaining agreement for teachers and a few other employee groups. (The budget figure does not include debt service payments on past construction projects or other capital expenses.) Yet few people know what is in this or other school labor contracts. This analysis of Utica's is part of an ongoing series.

Utica Community Schools is the second largest school district in the state, with 29,200 students and 1,640 teachers. Teacher salaries are determined by a single salary schedule that grants automatic raises based solely on an employee's years on the job plus additional pedagogy degrees. Teachers are evaluated once every three years, but neither these evaluations nor the performance of their students affect how much they are paid.

Utica teachers get automatic annual pay raises ranging from 5 to 8 percent as they progress through the time-on-the-job "steps" of the salary schedule, except for after their 2nd and 10th years on the job, when they get about a 13 percent pay bump automatically. All teachers also receive a 1.5 percent pay increase as the entire salary schedule grows by that amount each year. The vast majority of teachers in Utica make a base salary that's between $63,224 and $88,853. The average teacher salary was $75,420 in 2008.

The district pays $15,034 annually for a family health insurance plan. Teachers do not have to contribute anything to the cost of their health insurance premiums. The statewide average cost in the private sector for an employer-provided family plan is $11,300, with the employee picking up 22 percent of that amount. The district also provides life, vision and dental insurance, and pays $1,500 annually to those teachers who choose not to enroll in the district's health plan.

School employees are entitled to a lifetime pension when they retire, and are also are promised lifetime post-retirement health benefits. Based on the state-run pension system's formula, the lifetime pension for a Utica teacher with 30 years of experience and an average base salary of $88,853 (the final "step" on the single salary schedule) would be $39,983. An employee may begin collecting a pension upon reaching age of 55, or after 30 years of employment in public schools. The district also pays each teacher $500 if they announce their retirement by April 1.

Teachers are allotted an average of 11 sick leave days per year and may accumulate an unlimited amount of these. As unused sick days accumulate, teachers are rewarded with more personal leave days. After collecting 150 sick days, teachers get six personal days each year. Upon retirement, teachers are also paid $40 for each unused sick day.

Other leave time opportunities are available for teachers. The union president is allowed full release time from teaching duties in order to conduct union business, essentially getting paid as a teacher but not teaching. Certain employees may take a year-long sabbatical and receive half of their salary during that time. Teachers also are allowed a full year of unpaid leave for "exploring the possibility of making a 'career change.'" After a leave of absence, teachers are automatically reassigned to their previous position.  

The union contract also covers working conditions, including the minimum number of school days and hours. Teachers are required to be at school 184 days per year, for 7 hours and 20 minutes per day. This amounts to 1,326 hours annually. The national average for all professions is 1,792 hours over the span of about 225 work days.

The union contract also includes bonus pay for additional duties. Teachers are paid between $8 and $10.50 per student per day for any class-size overages. Acting as a department chairperson nets around $3,000 annually, and participating in certain "civic functions" gets $23 per hour. Finally, teachers can earn extra cash by coaching or participating in other extracurricular activities, such as band, drama, yearbook, debate, student clubs and many others. There are nearly 100 different extracurricular positions available to teachers that pay between $659 and $11,864 annually.

A more detailed analysis of Utica's contract can be found here. Analyses of other contracts are compiled here.