RH Jones to the Norton School Board re: HB 315

RH Jones to Diane Farmer, November 28, 2007
Subject: Re: To All 21

Ms. Farmer:

Thank you for answering my letter.

Do you realize that there will be not HC for you in 2020?You, as a STRS member for 25-yrs.+, will be without HC. What if you become catastrophically disabled? No private insurance company will insure you, or any other badly ill STRS retiree.

As far as your statement that: "...recent past mismanagement by STRS." That has been corrected. The manager, Herb Dyer, was let go and we now have a whole new STRS board. There are a few minor problems presently, but they are being democratically corrected. The STRS is a democratic organization. Also, by the way, Ohio's Taft administration was also voted out of office. Neglect of the public school systems was rampant under him. And where was the OSBA and the Norton board when mismanaged charter schools were, and still are, draining scarce tax dollars away from public school districts?

The $250,000 per year cost per year that you mentioned the treasurer came up with is also questionable. How did he arrive at that figure?

The OSBA, nor Norton, has mentioned a viable alternative! School boards, therefore, need to do the right thing and back HB 315.

Robert Hudson Jones .

From Diane Farmer, November 28, 2007

Subject: Re: To All 21

Mr. Jones

Thank you for taking the time to write. I'm not sure why the e-mail keeps coming- I had received 4 copies of it before I read the first one and by the time I finished, another one showed up in my inbox.

As a member of STRS for the twenty+ years I've been in education, I see both sides of this issue. In conversations with colleagues about HB 315 it is hard not to sympathize with the increase in HC costs for retirees. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore the publicized recent past mismanagement of funds by STRS. I'm not convinced school districts are responsible to make up for this mismanagement.

Our treasurer has informed us the cost to the district would be nearly a quarter of a million dollars annually. This is not a modest increase in my opinion.

Again, thank you for taking the time to respond to our letter to the press.

Diane Farmer

RH Jones to Diane Farmer, Norton SchBd, November 28, 2007

Subject: To All 21

To all Norton school board members:

Re: your "Oppose the increase" editorial recently published in the West Side Leader and the Barberton Herald.

Contrary to your editorial, House Bill 315 will not impact the quality of teacher in the Norton School District. It will do just the opposite: good teachers are attracted to districts that provide retirement health care (HC). And you seem not to understand that the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) is restricted by state statute from increasing retired member HC. HB 315 will change that.

Since the last employer increase nearly 30-years ago, retired members of the STRS have been carrying the Ohio School Districts through high inflation. It is time school boards stepped up to their responsibilities. Educators, increasingly, are being physically and mentally assaulted in the schools. And, how about the recent increase in school staph infections? Seriously, do you want your retired teachers without HC?

In 2007, The STRS Ohio retirees will pay 48% of the HC programs estimated costs of $485 million through their premiums, deductibles co-payments and out-pocket costs. A Law that requires its current retirees to share such a large portion of the cost restricts no other Ohio retirement system.

The STRS recipients in Ohio receive almost $4 billion in retirement, survivor and disability benefits each year. This is money that they spend in their communities ?many of whom live, vote and pay taxes in Norton. This money helps to fuel local economies. The demise of the HC program will severely impact the purchasing power of these retirees. Therefore, without the passage of HB 315, retired educators will certainly not be financially able to support local school levies. Traditionally, retired teachers have always been called on for levy support.

The STRS, with the backing of the majority of Ohio?s active teachers, is asking only for a modest employer increase. The Norton school boards uninformed and inept decision to oppose HB 315 has hurt they image of Norton schools and our city.

Robert Hudson Jones, Norton resident and retired STRS member