Dear Editor,
In August I began my 10th year teaching. I am in a career that I love, and I get to make a difference each and every day. I am able to do this because I put myself through college relying on a mixture of financial aid, scholarships and grants. I have a Bachelor’s of Science Degree and a Master’s Degree. These are things I must get in order to teach, and I am happy to get because I want students to have highly qualified teachers in the classroom. This can be said for teachers across the commonwealth; it is not unique to me.
Everything I stated earlier is not why I am an educator. Teachers do not “choose” to be educators; I believe with all my heart teaching is a calling. This higher calling is why we serve our community and educate our students in public schools. Many teachers also attend classes at night, after they have taught all day, to obtain Masters’ Degrees, primarily because educators love what they do, and want to make a difference in students’ lives. All the while, we do this for far less pay than professionals in the private sector would receive with the same education level.
You may be asking yourself how we are able to attract highly qualified teachers to devote their entire life to teaching. The answer is a defined benefit retirement. Yes, our pay is not what other professionals in the private sector make. In return, part of our benefits are delayed by guaranteeing that we will have a defined benefit retirement system. This not only helps our commonwealth attract energetic, motivated, and highly qualified teachers, it helps us keep those teachers in the classroom their entire career. Without this, where would our public school students be? How could we attract and maintain quality teachers to the profession and keep them in the commonwealth? The answer is we cannot without having a defined benefit retirement. This would result in the students paying the ultimate price. With the impending Special Session to tackle public pensions, this possibility is a consequence we cannot stand for. Our students deserve the very best; we must be able to attract the very best into the profession.
Teachers never miss a payment into their retirement system. Teachers have 13 percent taken out for retirement benefits, and in return we know that we will be able to retire with a modest retirement — not a lavish retirement as some try and lead you to believe. Since Kentucky’s teachers do not pay into Social Security, a retiree’s pension is his/her primary source of income. A defined benefit gives teachers this guarantee. In addition, they are a great value for what they actually cost the state. For every $1 invested in the pension fund, $1.43 goes back into the local economy. Think of the impact that this has in your community.
The governor commissioned a group to study and make recommendations for pension reform in Kentucky. This consultant group recently released their report. You may have seen it on the news. It is called the PFM Report. A few recommendations from the group were to switch new employees over to a 401(k) style plan, move retirement age from 55 and 27 years of service to age 65, and several other things. According to the report, current teachers’ retirement age would be moved to 65. It also included several other unacceptable measurers. This group’s report, if implemented by legislators, would be a terrible thing for public education in the commonwealth and would be detrimental for current and future teachers. A 401(k) plan for teachers does not produce the returns as our current plan does. The state would not be getting a better investment for its money, and the retirees would not be getting a better retirement. Retirees could be getting a smaller retirement check and could eventually run out of money in their plan during retirement. The PFM’s solution is nothing new. Other states have tried this. For example, West Virginia had an underfunded teacher pension system in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1990s they moved to a 401(k) style plan and closed the teacher pension plan. The funding continued to get worse, so in 2005 they reopened their public pension plans and improved its funding. Let’s not make the same mistake West Virginia did.
Finding revenue is the key to a sustained pension system. Our legislators need to look at ways to long term fund our public pensions. Looking at pension reform without looking at revenue is a mistake. Contact your state representative and state senator and urge them to support a defined benefit pension plan for all Kentucky’s teachers.
Luke Inglish
Marshall County Education Association President