BUFFALO, NY (CBS ATLANTA) -
A Buffalo, New York school teacher is speaking out after a CNN report about taxpayers footing the bill for teachers there to get plastic surgery.
The school district is strapped for cash, yet under one of the insurance plan options, 3,400 teachers are eligible for botox, liposuction and more - all with no deductible.
Valerie Akauola, a Buffalo teacher who had plastic surgery under the plan, said she thinks it's a good thing.
"If somebody is going to help me and offer me medical care, the kind of care that's going to make me feel better about me, I appreciate that," Akauola said. "And I'm not going to judge the botox people. Do you want them walking around with paper bags on their heads? What do you want? People deserve to be happy. Happy people are productive."
The teachers' union in Buffalo has said it was willing to give up the plastic surgery option, as long as the district will come back to the table to negotiate.
The police and firefighters in Buffalo have similar plastic surgery options, but those departments are not facing the same financial problems as the school system.
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