RH Jones: Inflation and the STRS April 2011 report

From RH Jones, April 16, 2011

To all:

When Martin Essex was the Akron Superintendent, he liked to give us “across the board” $250 per year raises. In this case, a new teacher got the same raise as the highest paid veteran educator. That was unfair distribution of teacher salary. The STRS, April 2011, plan for HC/Rx is an “across the board” cut for retired annuitant members! A cut without a fair computation, places an unfair financial burden on retirees with to lowest pension income.

Across the board cuts may be easy to compute for the STRS officials, but it is nonetheless unreasonable. Using the fair computer calculation of the formula in the STRS supplemental benefit fund (13th check) would be a better way to award surpluses as well as shortfalls such as the HC/Rx; and, by the way, this was promised to us at the time we teachers decided on retirement. Also, of note, is that: as our 33 1/3% simple COLA reduction is being considered, inflation is on the rise. The Beacon reports today, 04/16/2011, “The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in March, the Labor Department said Friday. That matched the February increase.” …

By our STRS concentrating on solving the 30-year amortization, the officials in reducing retiree HC/Rx in the past few years for retired teachers, have created financial problems for us. And now they want to do it with future periodic yearly reductions. (See the STRS April Board News) Besides these proposed reductions, even Medicare is reducing their payments.

It is bad enough that the GOP ultra-right wing politicians are trying to Grab Our Pension and gut it even further, to have the STRS board and employed officials, which we gave a paycheck to over the number of years we worked, is, to me, “beyond the pale”. They, the STRS board and employees, know full well that employers, over the last 25-inflationary years, failed to increase their fair share of STRS contributions (active teachers had two), and with the overly generous 35yr./88+% final average award for recent retired educators, the uncalled for overly generous bonuses, and some STRS investment snafus, has placed the STRS in a financial predicament. Granted the STRS executives have cut employee, and operation costs, and that has helped some; but, to put the largest burden especially on retirees who retired before the 35/88+ award is not right and should be corrected immediately.

Further, we have retiree representation by a milquetoast ORTA who have not been effective in representing us in staving off the reductions in our pension mentioned above. Without CORE, retired educators would be nearly voiceless at our STRS and in our Ohio statehouse. Is it not time that the burden is shifted away from retired pensioners to others who can better afford the downward adjustments in their income? For retired teachers, enough is enough, already. This is the personal opinion of:

RHJones, a proud member of CORE