(Guest post by Greg Forster)
Check out Michael Petrilli’s great article in the new Gadfly. If major media outlets are going to act like the sky is falling because of student obesity, why is nobody worried about teacher obesity – which imposes much more direct costs on the school system than student obesity?
Health insurance costs associated with treating overweight teachers and other school staff are taking a major bite out of public education budgets. I estimate that these costs come to at least $2.5 billion annually–more than Maine spends on its entire k-12 system in a year.
This calculation assumes that the obesity rate among people who work in k-12 education is the same as that for the population as a whole: about one-third of all adults. (I can’t think of any reason why it would be lower–and if you’ve been to many educator gatherings lately, you wouldn’t think so, either.)
Why is teacher obesity so expensive? Petrilli blames gold-plated health benefits thanks to “over-generous collective bargain agreements.”
It’s hard to tell just how far into his cheek Petrilli’s tongue is planted here, but the article’s worth a read.
Posted by Greg Forster 
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