Another Beacon Letter to the Editor on OH newspapers' attack on STRS

From RH Jones, July 23, 2010
To all:
Newspapers have foolishly attacked educators are hurting we educators who buy their publications. See and read the editorial below .
RHJones, retired Akron teacher
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/99084379.html

Series on pensions did a hatchet job

I did not read every word of the series on double dipping. Nor did I read the entire June 22 editorial on the subject. However, the front-page graphic clearly forecast a hatchet job on some group or individual.

Are we to be shocked that a school superintendent might be the highest paid employee in the district or that, upon retirement, he or she might still be in demand since the state's more than 600 public school districts exceed the number of younger, certified, qualified and willing candidates?

Unlike many organizations, school districts cannot continue business as usual with the office staff, a board member or the PTA president serving as the chief officer. In time, we might consolidate our schools into 88 county districts, or find a new way to increase the number of superintendents. Currently, we are using the typically American method of enticement by compensation — a practice not unique to schools.

If the prime concern is earned income on top of pension, where does one stop? No public employees work after retirement? Do you stop with public employees?

Unable to participate in Social Security, public workers have had to craft their own system. You used big numbers to show the dollars going into the State Teachers Retirement System, but that's under $10,000 per worker. Like Social Security, payments come from employees and employer, roughly one-half from each.

Unlike Social Security, consider teachers have contributed 20 percent to 25 percent of their salaries toward the pension fund over the length of their careers, making up for the loss of Social Security benefits. Instead of criticism, maybe public systems should be models for a federal plan.

Hopefully, the series was not written to imply that public employees should be reined in at the first sign that they (and the services that they provide) might be costing us. In that case, we would attack the hands that serve. Reporter David Knox admits that many superintendents manage ''multimillion-dollar enterprises — dwarfing most private businesses.'' I would be most uncomfortable turning that responsibility over to the lowest bidder.

Gene Ewald
Cuyahoga Falls