Proposal Seeks Health-Insurance Savings

Pennsylvania's districts would have employees covered by state's plan to reduce costs, conflicts.

Hoping to save money for his state on health-care costs—and to hold down local property-tax rates used to pay for benefits—Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell is proposing to bring all school employees under one insurance plan, rather than have individual school districts continue to provide their own.

Centralizing health insurance would cut administrative expenses for districts, make the state “a partner” in paying health-care costs, and allow the state’s districts to better focus their attention on improving education services, the Democratic governor said recently when laying out his initiative to members of the legislature, now in its 2007-08 session.

Under Gov. Rendell’s plan , all of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts, except the 17,000-employee, 184,000-student Philadelphia system would be required to participate...