RH Jones: An appeal to all active & retired educators who reside in Akron

From RH Jones, November 12, 2007

Attention, Akron active/retired educators

An appeal to all active & retired educators who reside in Akron:

As an Akron resident and a registered voter, K. Fluke, PhD, VP & Legislative Chair of the Summit County Retired Teacher Association, is being permitted to speak before the Akron Board of Education (ABE) this coming Thursday, Nov.15 at 7:30 PM. He is only allowed 3-minutes to speak, so he will need you there to talk to board members before and after the meeting.

As you may know, the ABE came out against the HB 315 and had an opposition letter printed in a Beacon editorial. Therefore, Dr. Fluke will sorely need your help, so please do not leave him alone to address this important issue.

As a 30-yr. employee of the ABE, I was disappointed that the board did not realize that without passage of the bill Akron taxpayers more than likely would have to pay more than the modest increase mentioned in HB 315. For without health care (HC) teachers, especially the ones who have health problems will stay on until they can get Medicare at age 65. The older teacher at the top of the pay scale not only is more expensive than younger teachers, bargaining for HC with insurance companies will become more difficult and expensive. It is quite obvious that HC insurance for older active teachers will cost more! And, how about substitute teacher pay and sick leave pay. Is that not a cost factor as well? Please remember that older teachers are generally at the top of the salary scale. Younger teachers are not only healthier; they cost less.

What alternative does the board suggest? Ohio law restricts employees from paying into the STRS retirement fund; HB 315 will correct that. With HB 315, the burden of HC is fairly shared by the board the active & retired educator. The ABE has not come up with a viable solution to problem. The longer HB 315 is delayed the more it will cost the ABE. It has been 30-yrs since the last employer increase; and, this one is very modest 2.5% spread out over 5-yrs.

Robert Hudson Jones, SummitCRTA Legislative Committee Member.