GOP senator: ObamaCare forces schools to use more substitute teachers

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said ObamaCare is forcing schools to use more substitute teachers.

Alexander said a requirement in the Affordable Care Act that employers provide health insurance to anyone working 30 or more hours per week is leading schools in his home state to cut teacher hours so that some educators don’t meet that threshold. 

{mosads}Alexander, who is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said some school districts are being forced to employ more part-time workers, and to keep their hours low, to save on costs. That is also leading schools to use more substitute teachers, he said.

“Tennessee schools are also being hit hard by higher health insurance costs that are forcing districts to cut jobs or hours,” Alexander said Thursday. “ObamaCare has forced schools to save costs with more part-time employees, from substitute teachers to coaches to custodial and administrative staff.

“Schools should be free to make decisions based on what will help students learn what they need to know, not on how to cope with ObamaCare’s burdensome and expensive mandates,” Alexander said.

Alexander and most Republicans have called for a full repeal of the law.

That’s not likely to happen while President Obama is in office, but the GOP hopes to use problems with the healthcare law to end the Senate Democratic majority in the Senate.