Union Proposes Taking Over Salaries, Health Premiums

Michigan local would divvy up that share of district's budget.

A teachers’ union in Michigan has proposed an innovative approach to school budgeting that, if approved, experts say would likely be the first of its kind in the nation.

Under the proposal, which district officials are considering, the Grand Rapids Education Association would assume responsibility for managing a set proportion of the 19,000-student school system’s budget. With that guaranteed cut, the union would oversee the tricky and often contentious process of setting raises and also would manage teachers’ health-care benefits.

“We’re saying to the district, ‘Look, give us an actual budget, and we’ll live within our means,” said Paul Helder, the president of the...