Dayton area educators speak out re. reform....
From John Curry, January 28, 2011
Pension changes let employers off hook, union president says
By Margo Rutledge Kissell and Laura A. Bischoff, Staff Writers
Dayton Daily News, January 28, 2011
Dayton Daily News, January 28, 2011
Many teachers were learning at the end of the school day Thursday that they could have to pay a larger share of their retirement costs and see their pension benefits reduced under a plan designed to keep the State Teachers Retirement System solvent.
The plan has to be approved by the General Assembly and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Increases in the years of service required for eligibility, new minimum age thresholds, and benefit cuts would begin Aug. 1, 2015. Smaller cost-of-living adjustments and higher worker contributions would kick in July 1, 2012.
“It’s too bad one of the real benefits of being in the public education system — retirement, the pension — is going to have to go this way,” said David Romick, president of the Dayton Education Association, who sent an email Thursday notifying the membership of 1,150 teachers about the proposed changes.
Republican lawmakers, however, contend the public pension systems offer better benefits than what the private sector typically offers these days.
“These systems are so generous compared to the private sector. We should be thankful,” said state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, R-Napoleon, a longtime advocate for sound fiscal stewardship of the public pension systems.
Lawmakers rejected earlier proposals by pension leaders that called on taxpayers to shell out more to keep the systems solvent.
The STRS plan will be wrapped into a comprehensive bill that aims to overhaul the five public employee pension systems in Ohio.
Collectively, the systems serve 1.1 million workers and retirees and another 600,000 former government workers who have pension accounts on file. The five systems have investment portfolios totaling $162 billion.
The Dayton Education Association doesn’t support the STRS plan, which is projected to save about $10.9 billion and does not include any increase in employer contributions.
“Employers have been let off the hook,” Romick said, adding that the union’s biggest concern is that most of the responsibility for improving the system has been shifted to active members.
Romick said this comes as a majority of teachers in the district are “taking home less money overall than five years ago” because of salary freezes and increases in health care expenses. Teachers in the district have not had a pay raise since the 2008-09 school year other than step increases for those with fewer than 15 years experience, he noted.
Michele Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association, which represents 130,000 unionized teachers, said they know the long-term solvency of the pension plan will require difficult decisions but they don’t think this plan is the answer.
“We just believe the cuts are too deep and don’t offer enough flexibility for teachers nearing the end of their career,” she said.
Dayton teacher Vivian Jordan, 62, who plans to retire in June 2012, would get out right before smaller cost-of-living adjustments and higher member contributions would take effect .
For those like her who have been considering retiring in the next few years, “our plans can be upset by them saying now you have to work beyond 30 years.”
Sue Gunnell, assistant superintendent of administrative services for Huber Heights City Schools, believes many people are waiting for a clearer picture of how they might be impacted because the plan still needs to be approved by lawmakers and the governor.
“There are so many potential scenarios, it’s hard to get an actual calculation,” said Gunnell, 52, who has been in education for 31 years and would be impacted by the proposed STRS changes.
Contact this reporter at ?(937) 225-2094 or mkissell?@DaytonDailyNews.com.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 3:54 PM
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