RH Jones: Re: Longevity of OH STRS male retired educators unequal to females

From RH Jones, December 30, 2009

To OH Rep. Brian Williams and all:

Today, 12-30-09, in the “NEA MorningUpdate”, OpeningBell@nea.custombreifings.com NEA mentions: “Award-Winning Teacher Calls For More Men To Enter Profession”.

What better initiative to fulfill the urgent need for men to enter the teaching profession than to recognize that men are being discriminated against in providing the STRS male retirees with an equal pension income with women for an equal contribution?

Traditionally, since the inception of our STRS, men have been “short changed” when compared to the amount of income derived from the STRS over the male’s shorter than women’s life span. As everyone is aware, statistically, men simply do not live as long as women. During our working career in the same professional classification of employment, we men paid into the retirement system the same amount of money that the female professional paid; therefore, due to men not living as long as women, we men are due monetary credit for this longevity difference. We simply die sooner and therefore draw out less over our retirement period. According to <www.livescience.com/health/050228_life_expectancy.html> “the American longevity in men and women (who live longer) closed from 5.4 years in 2002 to 5.3 years in 2003 for women”. A major goal of our STRS is for fair treatment for all stakeholders. This 5.3 disparity should be monetarily made right.

With this in mind, our STRS should quietly correct the disparity before having to pay out greater amounts of dollars due to any possible liabilities of punitive damages brought about by the court system. A case in point, in today’s Beacon, pg. B7, 12-30-2009, “Restaurant settles discrimination suit” states: “Outback Steakhouse agreed to pay $19 million to female workers and take other steps, including hiring a new human resources executive, to settle a sex discrimination suit.” In our case, it may be determined that men indeed are not treated as well as women when it comes to the amount of pension drawn from the common male/female pool of STRS retiree recompenses. Men are owed this consideration.

As all America has recognized the equally of the sexes, this disparity for retired male teachers is long overdue for correction. Our STRS should move on this without delay. This should not need legislation to speed quickly forward.

The above is a fact not an opinion,

Robert Hudson Jones, an individual STRS retired teacher member