Tom Curtis responds to Bill Bush (Dispatch)
From Tom Curtis, September 20, 2009
Subject: 092009 Re School Employees Get Paid Twice
Subject: 092009 Re School Employees Get Paid Twice
Hello Bill Bush,
As a retired teacher and activist for reform at the STRS since 2003, I thank you for your article, but Mr. Asbury fails to acknowledge one most important point.
The rehiring of these chief administrators across Ohio has completely stalled the natural progression of those in the teaching ranks and those in lower administrative ranks from moving forward. Because of such, many school systems lose people that are good administrators, because they see no possibility of advancement in that system and move on. This whole process is nothing but a good old boys club.
Larry Morgan, the Supt. of Stark County Schools is a classic example of this abuse of power. He retired and then rehired a number of years ago with probably enough years to gain 100% of his 3 best years for his pension. I do not know his FAS when he retired, but it was in excess of $100K. The last time I noticed his current salary, it was $151K. My guess is that he is currently taking home in around $300K per year. Mr. Morgan has encouraged many other administrators in Stark and neighboring Summit County to retire and rehire. At last count I knew of, 65 other Stark County administrators had retired and rehired.
As stated above, this retire/rehire scheme completely stalls the natural progression of those desiring advancement in the educational community. These greedy people do not care one bit about that, because they feel they can run things better then anyone else and have developed the rhetoric to back it up.
Damon Asbury will always give you all the reasons why something like this is advantageous, without ever citing the negative reasons for doing such. I have experienced this first hand while attempting, with little success I might add; to bring about much needed reform at the STRS when Damon Asbury was the executive director. Damon Asbury could sell a snake a pair of shoes, and make him think he needed them!
Ask Damon Asbury why he felt it was proper for him to attempt to move 200 sick days from his prior employment as the Supt. of Worthington Schools to the STRS in 2001 and have the STRS funds pay for those days. If they were not eligible to be paid by the Worthington School system, then why would he believe it was right to have the STRS funds pay for them? Oh, that's right, Herb Dyer probably made a deal with him to do just that, so he could be paid based on a greater income then when he left Worthington.
Had it not been for Dr. Dennis Leone, former STRS board member, Damon Asbury would have been paid for those 200 sick days when he left the STRS in 2008. It is my understanding that he did not receive payment for such, but I have no way of knowing that for sure. I know one thing for sure, if Damon Asbury could be paid for them in anyway, he received that compensation.
To top it all off, these greedy individuals, like Damon Asbury simply slide into another top position so they can continue to game the system.
Disgusted in North Canton,
Tom Curtis
STRS retiree since 1998
STRS retiree since 1998
RETIRED, REHIRED
School employees can get paid twice
Sunday, September 20, 2009
By Bill Bush
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When South-Western schools' personnel director retired on June 30, 2003, the district expressed in a letter its "thanks and appreciation for your past service."
But the district already was banking on her future service, too, because it had decided to rehire Janice Collette the month before she retired.
Today, Collette, 58, continues to work for South-Western schools, making $107,000 a year and collecting a pension probably equal to two-thirds of her $86,000 annual salary at "retirement."
Across the state, Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System paid out more than $741 million in pension benefits last school year to 15,857 faculty and staff members who were still working for school systems and building up a second retirement plan. That's an average of almost $46,800 in annual pension payments per retired-rehired worker -- more than Ohio's median household income in 2007.
Almost 1,100 employees statewide were receiving an average pension payment last school year of $67,100 while simultaneously earning from $70,000 to more than $100,000 working for a school district.
Of that group, 299 went back to work earning more than $100,000 a year while earning pensions averaging $80,500, according to the system's records.
The number of retired rehirees has grown steadily by between 5 percent and 12 percent a year since lawmakers allowed the practice in 2000. At this rate, by next year there will be about twice as many as there were in 1999.
To retire, an employee must either be 55 years old or have 30 years of service.
But the State Teachers Retirement System doesn't think that allowing workers to be rehired after retiring causes them to retire earlier on average, or costs the system any more money, said spokeswoman Laura Ecklar.
"We aren't allowing anybody anything -- this is in state statute," Ecklar said. "We're just following the law."
The vast majority of the state's retired rehirees -- 11,239 of them -- returned to jobs that earn $20,000 or less a year, meaning they are likely part-time substitute teachers, Ecklar said.
Despite that, some school districts, and their residents, have been questioning the practice.
Scrutiny is likely to grow now that the cash-strapped retirement system is asking school districts to pay more into it to make up for declining investments. The teachers' pension fund is asking districts to increase their contribution to 16.5 percent, from the current 14 percent, during five years starting in 2016.
"Every time it comes up, members of the community are often outraged by the perception of double-dipping," said Worthington school board member Marc Schare, at whose urging the district held a public meeting on the issue several weeks ago.
Schare said it would be one thing to offer such generous benefits if districts faced a tight labor market because of an overheated economy.
"But we don't," he said. "We have a teacher glut."
South-Western recently changed its policy and no longer allows the practice, mainly because the State Teachers Retirement System stopped paying for retirees' health care, said spokeswoman Sandy Nekoloff. Before then, districts had an incentive to dump the employee's health-care costs onto the system.
School employees haven't always been able to retire then walk back into another job. Before a 2000 change to state law, retirees covered by the state retirement system had to wait 18 months before working again if they wanted to collect full pensions.
Some districts pay both the district's and employee's contributions into the system for managers. That means the taxpayer is completely on the hook for paying for the rehired administrator's second retirement plan -- an annuity that functions similar to a 401(k) that the employee can collect when he really retires.
The 10 or so retired- rehired employees at Worthington schools are mostly managers, meaning the district pays their pension contributions, said Treasurer Jeff McCuen.
Worthington administrators get rehired at between 85 percent and 90 percent of their former salary, depending on whether they immediately cash out accumulated sick leave that can equal tens of thousands of dollars in severance pay, he said.
"So there's a savings there," McCuen said.
But even if the district saves, does the public?
The Ohio School Boards Association thinks the practice is "relatively cost-neutral," said Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the group and the former head of the State Teachers Retirement System.
"The person is not earning any additional benefit than another person in that same position," Asbury said.
bbush@dispatch.com
By Bill Bush
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When South-Western schools' personnel director retired on June 30, 2003, the district expressed in a letter its "thanks and appreciation for your past service."
But the district already was banking on her future service, too, because it had decided to rehire Janice Collette the month before she retired.
Today, Collette, 58, continues to work for South-Western schools, making $107,000 a year and collecting a pension probably equal to two-thirds of her $86,000 annual salary at "retirement."
Across the state, Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System paid out more than $741 million in pension benefits last school year to 15,857 faculty and staff members who were still working for school systems and building up a second retirement plan. That's an average of almost $46,800 in annual pension payments per retired-rehired worker -- more than Ohio's median household income in 2007.
Almost 1,100 employees statewide were receiving an average pension payment last school year of $67,100 while simultaneously earning from $70,000 to more than $100,000 working for a school district.
Of that group, 299 went back to work earning more than $100,000 a year while earning pensions averaging $80,500, according to the system's records.
The number of retired rehirees has grown steadily by between 5 percent and 12 percent a year since lawmakers allowed the practice in 2000. At this rate, by next year there will be about twice as many as there were in 1999.
To retire, an employee must either be 55 years old or have 30 years of service.
But the State Teachers Retirement System doesn't think that allowing workers to be rehired after retiring causes them to retire earlier on average, or costs the system any more money, said spokeswoman Laura Ecklar.
"We aren't allowing anybody anything -- this is in state statute," Ecklar said. "We're just following the law."
The vast majority of the state's retired rehirees -- 11,239 of them -- returned to jobs that earn $20,000 or less a year, meaning they are likely part-time substitute teachers, Ecklar said.
Despite that, some school districts, and their residents, have been questioning the practice.
Scrutiny is likely to grow now that the cash-strapped retirement system is asking school districts to pay more into it to make up for declining investments. The teachers' pension fund is asking districts to increase their contribution to 16.5 percent, from the current 14 percent, during five years starting in 2016.
"Every time it comes up, members of the community are often outraged by the perception of double-dipping," said Worthington school board member Marc Schare, at whose urging the district held a public meeting on the issue several weeks ago.
Schare said it would be one thing to offer such generous benefits if districts faced a tight labor market because of an overheated economy.
"But we don't," he said. "We have a teacher glut."
South-Western recently changed its policy and no longer allows the practice, mainly because the State Teachers Retirement System stopped paying for retirees' health care, said spokeswoman Sandy Nekoloff. Before then, districts had an incentive to dump the employee's health-care costs onto the system.
School employees haven't always been able to retire then walk back into another job. Before a 2000 change to state law, retirees covered by the state retirement system had to wait 18 months before working again if they wanted to collect full pensions.
Some districts pay both the district's and employee's contributions into the system for managers. That means the taxpayer is completely on the hook for paying for the rehired administrator's second retirement plan -- an annuity that functions similar to a 401(k) that the employee can collect when he really retires.
The 10 or so retired- rehired employees at Worthington schools are mostly managers, meaning the district pays their pension contributions, said Treasurer Jeff McCuen.
Worthington administrators get rehired at between 85 percent and 90 percent of their former salary, depending on whether they immediately cash out accumulated sick leave that can equal tens of thousands of dollars in severance pay, he said.
"So there's a savings there," McCuen said.
But even if the district saves, does the public?
The Ohio School Boards Association thinks the practice is "relatively cost-neutral," said Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the group and the former head of the State Teachers Retirement System.
"The person is not earning any additional benefit than another person in that same position," Asbury said.
bbush@dispatch.com
posted by Kathie Bracy at 11:09 AM
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