Michigan charter schools are short changing their educators' retirements and.....

.....thank you former Senator Sue Morano (D-Lorain) for standing up for STRS and public educators......

From John Curry, June 22, 2011

...too bad you are still not in the Ohio Senate!

Of course, you aren't surprised, are you? And, of course, the Fordham Foundation is just happy as pie, aren't they? I wonder if they are bragging about it? Wanna' bet?

John

P.S. Following this article is a little story about the Fordham Foundation bashing Ohio STRS several years ago. I'm sure this right-wing organization would be perfectly happy if all defined benefits retirement systems disappeared off the face of the earth. I wonder how many educators are aware of this? What do you bet less than 1%? Proof of the previous statement can be found at the end of the last article in this email.....believe me!
http://blog.mlive.com/citpat/news_impact/print.html?entry=/2011/06/charter_schools_in_jackson_are.html

Charter schools save money by opting out of state retirement system for 401(k) plans

Jackson Citizen Patriot, June 22, 2011

by Bob Wheaton

Charter schools — including many in Michigan and at least two in the Jackson County area — have saved money by opting out of the state’s retirement plan, according to a report released today. The schools have instead provided a 401(k) or other retirement plan for employees.
Charter schools are publicly funded schools that do not have to meet all of the same requirements as traditional public school districts, including mandatory participation in the state retirement system.

The report is from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy think tank that is also an advocate for and sponsor of charter schools in Ohio.

Paragon Charter Academy, 3750 McCain Road, provides its employees a 401(k) instead of contributing to the state pension plan, a spokesman said, and White Pine Charter Academy in Leslie previously provided a 401(k). The Leslie school recently dropped the employer match of its 401(k) to avoid cutting salaries, according to an email from Amanda Olberg, one of the authors of the Fordham Institute study.

White Pine Academy contributed a 3 percent match to employee 401(k) plans, Olberg wrote. According to the Fordham Institute report, the annual employer contribution rate to the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System was 9.7 percent of the employee’s annual salary in 2009.

Joe DiBenedetto, a spokesman for National Heritage Academies, the company that runs Paragon Charter Academy, said he could not immediately provide the employer match toward the 401(k) plan at the school.

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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2008/02/02/Morano_MUST_SAT_ART_02-02-08_A9_EQ97KT5.html?sid=101

Despite report, pension funds are in good hands

Columbus Dispatch , February 2, 2008

It is disappointing to see the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's well-known support for Ohio's failed charter-school experiment drive an effort to undermine confidence in Ohio's public retirement systems. Fordham has previously been content to criticize public schools in its efforts to explain away deficiencies in the oversight and management of charter schools. Fordham's new strategy, however, seems to open a new front in its attack on public education by claiming mismanagement and excessive costs in Ohio's retirement system for teachers and other public employees.

Thus, it is very interesting that Fordham researcher Emmy L. Partin's Jan. 19 letter to The Dispatch asserts that Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System pension funds are in peril, facing a $19 billion shortfall in teachers' pension obligations. As an Ohio legislator and member of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, I often think about the coming tide of retiring teachers and public employees. This coming tide, however, is something that is anticipated, and our public retirement systems are preparing the best they can for an aging population.

When the Fordham Institute first released its report in June asserting these same figures, I asked STRS and the study council, Ohio's regulatory body that oversees all five of Ohio's public employee retirement systems, whether the Fordham Institute was correct in characterizing STRS as having these "staggering" unfunded liabilities. Their response? Not so.

Both the study council and STRS confirm that the system's unfunded liability for pensions was $19 billion on June 30, 2006. But updated numbers released in March 2007 demonstrate that the systems have been on a steady course to achieve a 30-year solvency period within the next two to three years. STRS anticipates that 2007 will again be a year of significant decreases in unfunded pension liabilities, following last year's $688 million decrease. These savings are not a result of more strain put on teachers and local districts, but rather, for the most part, careful and consistent management and favorable returns on pension-fund investments.

This claim was recently corroborated by the report "Promises with a Price: Public Sector Retirement Benefits," released by the Pew Center on the States, rating Ohio as a top performer in saving for our pension and health-care-benefits bill coming due. It's true that the rising cost of health-care coverage and a population with an ever-increasing life expectancy can potentially strain public employees' benefits, but Ohio's retirement systems have demonstrated a great degree of insight into the volatile health-insurance market. In fact, Ohio is just one of 13 states that have set aside irrevocable trusts for retiree benefits such as health and dental coverage and life insurance. Additionally, Ohio has set aside significantly more than any other state: Compare our $11.1 billion to the distant-second Alaska with just $2.2 billion.

School districts are pressed to strike the right balance between managing costs and recruiting and retaining good talent in their classrooms. There are often proposals in the General Assembly to help local school districts strike such a balance, but let me reiterate that our public pension funds, especially benefits for our public schoolteachers, are in adaptable and prudent hands. What are not helpful are persistent efforts by seemingly ideologically motivated players such as the Fordham Institute to distort the true financial conditions of Ohio's retirement systems.

SEN. SUE MORANO
13th Ohio Senate District Lorain

P.S. #2 Guess what, Sen. Sue Morano (the author of the above letter) was recently defeated in the last election BY AN OHIO EDUCATOR (Gayle Manning) by less than 6,000 votes! I wonder if Gayle would want to retire with only a 401-K plan? Maybe she would opt to refuse her current retirement contribution by Ohio taxpayers for her Ohio Senate seat and, instead, only accept 3% from her employer to go for HER retirement instead of the current OPERS 14%? And Sue Morano.....well.... she had to leave office representing Ohioans and go back to her occupation as an ER nurse in Lorain. Thanks, Sue, for the memories! It was nice to see a politician really serve the people instead of serving private interests.

John