Your STRS: From Caretaker to Undertaker; a blockbuster letter from Jim N. Reed
Jim N. Reed to June Hughes, November 20, 2006
Subject: Your Letter Got My Attention!
Dear June (Disgusted in Cincinnati),
Just read your letter and it makes me mad, again. The STRS debacle has left me with many a sour grape and I can tell you are angry as well, rightfully so.
You're right about so many of the things you said. Why did so many of us sit back and trust our OEA, our ORTA's, and, most disgustingly, our STRS?! Our trusting, passive, and apathetic nature finally caught up with us, didn't it?
Your letter reminded me of my mentor who died in 1999. He had been retired for almost 15 years and he and his wife enjoyed a frugal but comfortable retirement. Nothing extravagant, but secure and the 13th check was so looked forward to. Mark's wife's healthcare premium was minimal and he was so proud of his late-career Masters and how STRS seemed to have rewarded his family. I'm certain he would be most disappointed and disgusted were he still living to see what has happened in the past six-seven years.
I retired with the class of 1998, kept in ignorance of any benefit formula change by the STRS Board and my counselors when I had my "retirement talk." I had 33 years of service and, as Herb Dyer told me, "got caught in the cracks of the transition but should not complain and be thankful for what STRS was doing for me." Doing "for" me or "to" me? What a jerk Dyer was! And to think the Board gave him a $600,000 "going away" present! How many times were you given a cash bonus for screwing up in the classroom, June?
While millions were being spent on the "palace" and STRS employees were being provided with child-care, lunchroom subsidies, a work-out room, beautiful (and expensive) artwork, pavers on the garage floor, and a most attractive healthcare package (that we paid for), and STRS Board members were spending our money like one-armed bandits, we were rewarded with a stolen 13th check and obscene healthcare premium increases. And to make matters worse, the beat goes on at the STRS. Though Dr. Leone and Mr. Lazares have stuck their fingers in the dike, the arrogance and mismanagement is still a disgrace.
It almost makes you ashamed to admit you've been a duped teacher for most of your career!
I finally gave up trying to use STRS healthcare for my spouse. She just turned Medicare eligible and I have opted for an independent agent to establish an outside plan. (I'm keeping my STRS coverage but my wife was not an educator.) Adverse selection is not the answer to the STRS dilemma but they have given us little choice.
Alternative plans must be searched prior to pre-existing conditions making a change impossible.
I certainly can empathize with you. I feel very fortunate that as part of my retirement negotiations with my Board I was re-employed as a half-day teacher. I anticipated working part-time for a few years. It's now been nine. I had no idea my retirement system was going to go from being my caretaker to being my undertaker. But, again, I consider myself one of the lucky ones.
It makes me very angry to know that teachers who have earned a secure retirement are still trying to stay in the classroom when they are no longer capable, risking an exemplary career by hanging on so they can provide their families with health care. And, of course, many have had to find a retirement job just to make medical expenses.
I'm afraid I sound like a cynic. Guilty.
I don't know that I have lifted your spirits any but it is therapeutic for me to blow off some steam occasionally and your letter provided the motivation. (Now, if I can just motivate my students after 42 years!)
By the way, I thought Molly's letter to you was indicative of the discouragement many of us sense at this juncture. Again, I blame the STRS Board for their insensitivity, arrogance and mismanagement. And, for their dysfunction, they will have to listen to my sharp tongue and my sharp pen frequently. There are many other CORE members who will continue to make concerted efforts to "throw the rascals out."
Thank you for the courage to write your letter. One of the positive outcomes of such notes is the sense of belonging to a spunky group of "malcontents," as we have been name-called by our detractors. I wear it as a badge. Welcome to the club, June.
Jim N. Reed
Dear June (Disgusted in Cincinnati),
Just read your letter and it makes me mad, again. The STRS debacle has left me with many a sour grape and I can tell you are angry as well, rightfully so.
You're right about so many of the things you said. Why did so many of us sit back and trust our OEA, our ORTA's, and, most disgustingly, our STRS?! Our trusting, passive, and apathetic nature finally caught up with us, didn't it?
Your letter reminded me of my mentor who died in 1999. He had been retired for almost 15 years and he and his wife enjoyed a frugal but comfortable retirement. Nothing extravagant, but secure and the 13th check was so looked forward to. Mark's wife's healthcare premium was minimal and he was so proud of his late-career Masters and how STRS seemed to have rewarded his family. I'm certain he would be most disappointed and disgusted were he still living to see what has happened in the past six-seven years.
I retired with the class of 1998, kept in ignorance of any benefit formula change by the STRS Board and my counselors when I had my "retirement talk." I had 33 years of service and, as Herb Dyer told me, "got caught in the cracks of the transition but should not complain and be thankful for what STRS was doing for me." Doing "for" me or "to" me? What a jerk Dyer was! And to think the Board gave him a $600,000 "going away" present! How many times were you given a cash bonus for screwing up in the classroom, June?
While millions were being spent on the "palace" and STRS employees were being provided with child-care, lunchroom subsidies, a work-out room, beautiful (and expensive) artwork, pavers on the garage floor, and a most attractive healthcare package (that we paid for), and STRS Board members were spending our money like one-armed bandits, we were rewarded with a stolen 13th check and obscene healthcare premium increases. And to make matters worse, the beat goes on at the STRS. Though Dr. Leone and Mr. Lazares have stuck their fingers in the dike, the arrogance and mismanagement is still a disgrace.
It almost makes you ashamed to admit you've been a duped teacher for most of your career!
I finally gave up trying to use STRS healthcare for my spouse. She just turned Medicare eligible and I have opted for an independent agent to establish an outside plan. (I'm keeping my STRS coverage but my wife was not an educator.) Adverse selection is not the answer to the STRS dilemma but they have given us little choice.
Alternative plans must be searched prior to pre-existing conditions making a change impossible.
I certainly can empathize with you. I feel very fortunate that as part of my retirement negotiations with my Board I was re-employed as a half-day teacher. I anticipated working part-time for a few years. It's now been nine. I had no idea my retirement system was going to go from being my caretaker to being my undertaker. But, again, I consider myself one of the lucky ones.
It makes me very angry to know that teachers who have earned a secure retirement are still trying to stay in the classroom when they are no longer capable, risking an exemplary career by hanging on so they can provide their families with health care. And, of course, many have had to find a retirement job just to make medical expenses.
I'm afraid I sound like a cynic. Guilty.
I don't know that I have lifted your spirits any but it is therapeutic for me to blow off some steam occasionally and your letter provided the motivation. (Now, if I can just motivate my students after 42 years!)
By the way, I thought Molly's letter to you was indicative of the discouragement many of us sense at this juncture. Again, I blame the STRS Board for their insensitivity, arrogance and mismanagement. And, for their dysfunction, they will have to listen to my sharp tongue and my sharp pen frequently. There are many other CORE members who will continue to make concerted efforts to "throw the rascals out."
Thank you for the courage to write your letter. One of the positive outcomes of such notes is the sense of belonging to a spunky group of "malcontents," as we have been name-called by our detractors. I wear it as a badge. Welcome to the club, June.
Jim N. Reed
posted by Kathie Bracy at 7:16 PM
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