School Districts Combine Health Policies.

• Position: Brief Article

The Dallas and Houston school districts will search together for employee health insurance under a plan approved in March. The districts--the two largest in Texas--formed the partnership to find an insurer before the Dallas Independent School District's (DISD) contract expires December 31. The partnership will give both districts greater bargaining power, officials said. Health insurance has been a problem for DISD since last fall, when employees were informed about a sudden increase in their premiums. Under the partnership, officials will form a pool of Dallas' 19,000 employees and Houston's 28,000 workers...