tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post6231976988221045352..comments2023-06-24T10:52:34.846-04:00Comments on EducateHilliard.com: Time Bomb: Ohio’s Newspapers Weigh InPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-11061346702903658922010-01-13T17:40:42.896-05:002010-01-13T17:40:42.896-05:00Here's yet another letter from an STRS retiree...<a href="http://kathiebracy.blogspot.com/2010/01/tom-curtis-letter-to-representative.html" rel="nofollow">Here's</a> yet another letter from an STRS retiree to their State Representative claiming that there has been no increase in the employer contribution to STRS.<br /><br />I very much like the <a href="http://kathiebracy.blogspot.com/2010/01/representative-wachtmann-responds-to.html" rel="nofollow">response</a> the retiree received from <a href="http://www.house.state.oh.us/index.php?option=com_displaymembers&task=detail&district=75" rel="nofollow">Rep Lynn Wachtmann</a>, from northwestern Ohio.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-45910097668700920682010-01-12T19:51:10.669-05:002010-01-12T19:51:10.669-05:00Welcome back Hillirdite - we've missed you.
P...Welcome back Hillirdite - we've missed you.<br /><br />PLPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-63866555438816607482010-01-12T17:00:49.234-05:002010-01-12T17:00:49.234-05:00Yep, I thought it was a pretty nice dance too. As...Yep, I thought it was a pretty nice dance too. As far as Mr. DeColibus' blog post, all I can say is I am glad he is retired and not actively teaching. He is obviously way out of touch with economic reality, especially in regard to those of us in the private sector. Our employer pays only 6.75% into Social Security for us, not 14% and I can say as an employer, that is figured into what we can pay our employees. All payroll costs are a part of a companies budget for labor, including taxes, health insurance, etc. When any of those costs rise, the employee is getting a "raise" whether they want to acknowledge it or not - I am fortunate that most of mine do. And in what rarefied air are employers giving those kind of matches to 401(k) programs? How many employees have had to scale back their own contributions due to no raises for the last 3 years on top of decreased matching? How many private sector companies have ANY kind of pension for their employees? I deal mostly with small businesses (the backbone of our economy) and none, that I know of, offer a pension, and most have scaled back or eliminated matching of 401(k) contributions. <br />Mr DeColibus goes on to say that the reason his pension is so high (by his own admission it is a great pension!) is that STRS has invested all of those contributions over the years. WRONG! It is so high because it was guaranteed, regardless of the performance of the fund. It is so high BECAUSE the fund was not managed properly and so now it looks like it might be in trouble, contrary to his "the difference isn't we're unreasonably greedy, the difference is the government doesn't intelligently invest its citizen-workers pension contributions" statement, which if he stopped to think for about one nanosecond, he would realize exactly the opposite is what the entire issue is about!<br /><br />BTW, it's good to be back on board around here - I have checked in regularly and finally have found the breathing room to have time to post; I had even lost my password<br />which is why I posted anonymously previously in this thread, including the response from Cheryl Grossman. I hope to pick up where I left off a few months ago!Hillirditehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04502059362611692461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-31047999901039938292010-01-12T15:31:59.906-05:002010-01-12T15:31:59.906-05:00Thanks... pretty much a non-answer, huh?Thanks... pretty much a non-answer, huh?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-28491087379921274232010-01-12T15:29:00.310-05:002010-01-12T15:29:00.310-05:00Response from an e-mail I sent:
Thank you for sha...Response from an e-mail I sent:<br /><br />Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding public pensions in Ohio. <br /><br />The topic of maintaining solvent pension funds in Ohio remains a very high priority. <br /><br />Based on the briefings that I have received, the recommendation will be that pension contributions reflect more what is done in the private sector than has been done in the past.<br /><br />I certainly understand your concerns. At this point, nothing official has come before the Ohio House concerning recommendations that are being finalized.<br /><br />I will keep your concerns in mind when this issue is addressed.<br /><br />Again, I appreciate your taking the time to express your concerns.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />Cheryl Grossman<br />Assistant Minority Whip<br />Ohio House-District 23Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-51053698927440924822010-01-12T15:15:04.036-05:002010-01-12T15:15:04.036-05:00Among the many letters posted on Kathy Bracy's...Among the many letters posted on Kathy Bracy's blog about these newspaper articles was <a href="http://kathiebracy.blogspot.com/2010/01/commentary-hokum-by-another-name.html" rel="nofollow">this one</a> written by a retired teacher. For someone who is supposed to be skilled at using and teaching critical analysis, Mr. DiColibus made some glaring errors.<br /><br />Chief among them is this statement which I've seen a number of times in this debate:<br /><br />"School boards haven't seen an increase in the rates they have to contribute for 24 years."<br /><br />Because school boards (ie the taxpayers) contribute 14% of a teachers' salary to STRS, the dollar amount of contribution made has increased directly in proportion to the teachers' salaries. In the case of the majority of HCSD teachers, that has meant annual increases of 7.95% for the 2005-2007 contract and 7.27% for the 2008-2010 contract.<br /><br />Consequently, the dollar amount of the retirement contributions made by the school district for each teacher will have increased 55% between the beginning of 2005 and the end of 2010.<br /><br />If the average teacher salary today (in round numbers) is $68,000, then just prior to the start of the 2005-2007 contract, the average teacher pay would have been around $44,000, and the employers' contribution to STRS would have been around $6,200. By the end of the 2008-2010 contract, the average teacher pay would be around $68,000 and the STRS payment would be around $9,500 - an increase of approx $3,300/yr per teacher.<br /><br />That doesn't sound like nothing to me.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-55480156839614976272010-01-12T14:10:43.631-05:002010-01-12T14:10:43.631-05:00Unfortunatly, the 2.5 increase most likely will be...Unfortunatly, the 2.5 increase most likely will be enacted. There is too much political pressure to hope for anything else<br /><br />Simply the 2.5 % is an expense items that is going to increase.<br />It will need to be covered by a tax increase on the property owner<br /><br />So, the next contract of three years needs to be flat. The 2.5% increase will need to start being accumulated now, so we have the dollars to fund it. Otherwise it will come out of current programming<br /><br />While the smart play, and acknowledged by the Audit and Accountablility that our expenditures will be exceeding revenue the next contract for the first two years should be a base increase of 1% with no step raise.<br />or vice versa. Not one penny more than that. The board should be starting that dialogue now and not wait until the last minute. <br /><br />If we wait to start this conversation with the HEA we will get back into a corner<br /><br />There are thousands of teachers who I am sure would like to come here and teach given the facilities, infrastructure, and pay scale. I know of 3 myself who <br />would come right now.<br /><br />So if the strike comes, we simply start hiring their replacements.<br /><br />I am also ( for anyone interested)<br />almost ready for a petition drive directed at the school district about insuring that our graduating seniors equally across the board receive the proper paper work, <br />and attention to insure our students do not run into the same issues as the last "working to the contract" anything related to students positive move forward <br />toward their college careers.<br /><br />This should be a no brainer but unfortunatly no one at the admin. level or the HEA members seem to give a rats.<br /><br />So, if you are interested let me know. Working to the contract is a far cry from the districts crap about it being about the kids<br /><br />Apparently we have negotiated our rights to the HEA in the contract for so many things. It is time we as taxpayers are treated equally <br />for every student, not the chosen few. The financial ramifications can be interestingRicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-88004438760106348142010-01-12T11:08:20.058-05:002010-01-12T11:08:20.058-05:00To the STRS retiree:
You may be a victim, but not ...To the STRS retiree:<br />You may be a victim, but not a victim of the taxpayers, so why should the taxpayers bail you out? In a way, I can sort of feel for the retiree's as some of the older ones, in particular, did not enjoy the benefits of 7% salary bumps every year. However, your union has gone way overboard in recent years regarding compensation demands, and the taxpayers are revolting big time. Keep in mind I feel more sorry for the private sector retirees even more, as they have no guarantees whatsoever. It should be up to the currently employed to cover the retirees, just as it is for Social Security recipients. And you should expect the same cuts as SSA folks put up with.<br />Regarding the election of OEA backed board members, welcome to our world. The OEA backs candidates for school boards and state legislatures too, and then those entities rubber stamp the OEA demands. Problem is, the goose is no longer laying the golden egg. Sorry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-30971603572996054292010-01-11T23:17:15.463-05:002010-01-11T23:17:15.463-05:00When STRS was enjoying a high rate of return, ther...When STRS was enjoying a high rate of return, there was no talk of lowering the employer contribution, was there? Instead, the STRS members decided to take money out of the system and pay themselves a "13th paycheck" - money that should have been held in reserve to fund the retirements of future retirees.<br /><br />When did the OEA become a "them" for you anyway? Wasn't the OEA the union that put you in the position of having a decent retirement program? What motivation does the OEA membership have in screwing up STRS - the very retirement system that active teachers are counting on when they retire? <br /><br />Is it because the active teachers fear the retirees are going to consume all the assets before the active teachers get a chance to enjoy their own retirement? Do the retirees fear the active members are going to preserve resources for themselves by reducing benefits to you?<br /><br />You folks in OEA and STRS can fight this out among yourselves - just leave the rest of us out of it. If you've blown STRS up with bad investment decisions, it's up to you and the OEA to figure out.<br /><br />We've paid our fair share into the system on your behalf once already. After that, the consequences of your risk/reward choices are yours to bear.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-74994247513260955972010-01-11T20:22:56.149-05:002010-01-11T20:22:56.149-05:00As one of those STRS retirees to whom you are refe...As one of those STRS retirees to whom you are referring, we are victims of the STRS retirement administration and Investment Dept. <br />Many of us have told Mike Nehf and the STRS Bd. that things need to change. We have been telling them this for years, and yet, they continue to invest as they see fit and to award huge bonuses to the Investment Staff for losing money!<br />Yes, we do vote for the members of the STRS Bd.; however, it is very difficult to get a person elected who does not have the big bucks OEA puts into getting their "chosen" candidate elected. <br />So, don't put the blame on the STRS stakeholders, they are the victims of mismanagement and greed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-42159673656382815292010-01-08T13:45:37.304-05:002010-01-08T13:45:37.304-05:00This is outrageous. If STRS decisions caused this...This is outrageous. If STRS decisions caused this debacle, then STRS (and their constituents, the teachers) should fix it. My pension was frozen a couple of months ago (and many of my neighbors are going through the same), yet we are not crying to the taxpayers to bail us out. If I paid the equivalent % salary that teachers do (which only be 12.5% after the changes), there is no way I could come close to the pension and benefits STRS offers. And before I hear about how this pension makes up for the poor wages, the last I saw on Paul's blog the average teacher salary in Hilliard is right about the average income in HCSD (though most of those folks do not have summers off).<br /><br />I looked at Jim Hughes web site and one of his stated goals was reducing taxes. I wonder how this fits into his "plan". On a side note, he also lists expanding education as one of his goals, but this has nothing to do with educating kids and everything to do with supporting a bloated and overly generous pension plan on the backs of those whose retirements are being decimated daily. <br /><br />Oh, and before I hear how this is necessary to "retain teachers in a tough profession", I recently heard a local district had well over 1000 resumes on file, and unemployment is at 10+%. Not sure where we need to "retain" them from going to.<br /><br />Thanks for the contacts Paul - I plan on contacting the state reps and governer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-57108226310960691712010-01-08T10:24:12.350-05:002010-01-08T10:24:12.350-05:00Yes, my understanding is that the proposed legisla...Yes, my understanding is that the proposed legislation would phase in the increased employer contribution by 0.5% per year for five years, starting with 2015. I think it's a 'boiling the frog' approach, designed to keep the increases below our pain threshold<br /><br />But while the actual pain may be delayed, the law which enacts it is being developed right now.<br /><br />PLPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-7601505676533797802010-01-08T10:04:21.563-05:002010-01-08T10:04:21.563-05:00Did I read in that dispatch article that the incre...Did I read in that dispatch article that the increased contribution from the "employer" would not start for at least several years, but the employee's increase would start immediately? Not that I agree with the entire thing anyway but just curious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com