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Teacher Upset She Can't Retire at 47
Capitol Confidential ^ | 4/20/2012 | Tom Gantert

Posted on 04/26/2012 6:34:54 AM PDT by MichCapCon

Terri List says she would tell her students not to become a teacher in Michigan.

Why?

One of the reasons is because the Saginaw Township Community School District English teacher won’t be able to retire at age 47 as she has hoped.

List was highlighted by the Michigan Education Association as one of the critics of Senate Bill 1040, which would require public school employees to contribute at least 5 percent of their compensation to their retirement plan.

The MEA reported on its website: "Saginaw Township teacher Terry (sic) List had hoped to retire in the next three years when she was 47 years old. That wouldn’t be possible under SB 1040. List would have to work another 16 years to be eligible for health benefits."

“By the time I’m 60, I would have put in 43 years of service, earning a salary at the top of the pay scale. How does that save the district money? You could hire two people for the cost of one and encourage young people to join the profession. Right now, I would not recommend to my pupils to become a teacher in Michigan.”

List didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

According to the school’s most recent teacher’s contract, List earns between $70,000 and $80,000 a year depending upon her level of education. Factor in expected pay raises over the next 15 years and it’s likely List would make more than $90,000 by the time she retires, said Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Van Beek estimated List’s pension would be $60,000 a year in retirement and it would increase 3 percent a year and she would get health benefits when she retired at age 60. Van Beek also said that it is likely that List bought “years of service” because she said she would have 43 years of service by age 60. Van Beek said that practice is basically extinct in the private sector.

Leon Drolet, chairman of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, called List’s comments “amazing.”

“Wow. They have reached the politicians’ level of entitlement,” Drolet said. “She thinks she is entitled to retire at 47? Holy smokes. I don’t know what more to say to that. A government employee thinking that 47 is a reasonable expectation to retire shows just how deep inside their own bubble they live, insulated from the real world.”

Charles Owens, president of the Michigan chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, said tongue-in-cheek that List was “spot on” in her complaint.

“If you want to retire if you are 47, apparently teaching is not the place to go,” Owens said. “The least Terri could do is provide a list of places other people could go so they can retire when they are 47.”


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: arth; school
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1 posted on 04/26/2012 6:34:58 AM PDT by MichCapCon
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To: MichCapCon

This is what happens when you don’t have a market setting prices. Government workers think they deserve to retire at 47. Or remember the one teacher who told Christie that she deserved to make $80K plus full benefits to work 8 months a year because of her “education.” It is a pure power grab by the unions and its paid for by the taxpayer serfs.


2 posted on 04/26/2012 6:39:14 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: MichCapCon

I am upset that I can’t have a pony.


3 posted on 04/26/2012 6:40:16 AM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: MichCapCon
“By the time I’m 60, I would have put in 43 years of service, earning a salary at the top of the pay scale. How does that save the district money? You could hire two people for the cost of one.."

not really, since YOU will still be getting paid.
4 posted on 04/26/2012 6:44:14 AM PDT by absolootezer0 (2x divorced tattooed pierced harley hatin meghan mccain luvin' REAL beer drinkin' smoker ..what?)
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To: crusty old prospector
I am upset that I can’t have a pony.

I'm upset that I can't afford to buy more guns and ammo.
5 posted on 04/26/2012 6:44:30 AM PDT by ZX12R (FUBO GTFO 2012 !)
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To: MichCapCon

I take it she doesn’t teach math.


6 posted on 04/26/2012 6:47:02 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (Steyn: Obama sez: "Nice little Supreme Court you got here. Shame if anything were to happen to it.")
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To: MichCapCon

There is always the outside chance she will be hit by a truck before retirement.


7 posted on 04/26/2012 6:47:57 AM PDT by Mashood
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To: Mashood

Maybe she’ll get hit by a pony?


8 posted on 04/26/2012 6:53:38 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: MichCapCon

I suspect that she could retire when she wants but couldn’t collect benefits until she reach the age of 60. Of course this is just a guess on my part.


9 posted on 04/26/2012 6:53:51 AM PDT by KirbDog
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To: ZX12R

I’m ashamed that a single conservative family chooses to surrender their kids to these liberal indoctrination camps and that the worst of these brainwashing ACORN educators and their union representatives aren’t fighting illegal immigrants for a job picking lettuce.


10 posted on 04/26/2012 6:56:47 AM PDT by AnTiw1 (If the King is Corrupt, then let Your Revolution be Pure.)
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To: ZX12R

Do like I have done - stock up on .22’s.


11 posted on 04/26/2012 6:57:46 AM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: NonValueAdded

This is public school so lack of ability to do math doesn’t mean you aren’t qualified to teach math.


12 posted on 04/26/2012 6:57:57 AM PDT by Conservative Actuary
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To: MichCapCon

Eliminate tenure.

Now.


13 posted on 04/26/2012 6:59:03 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (Obama ate his own dog as a child in Indonesia??)
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To: MichCapCon
“If you want to retire if you are 47, apparently teaching is not the place to go,” Owens said. “The least Terri could do is provide a list of places other people could go so they can retire when they are 47.”

Not on this planet, pal. I past 47 in the last century. I became eligible for retirement several years ago, but with things the way they are, it's never going to happen. In my outfit, it's not uncommon these days to encounter people with over 40 years in the saddle, and no plans to retire. One guy has put in 60 years, and still works a full day with grim determination. Just. Grateful. To. Still. Have. A. Job.
14 posted on 04/26/2012 7:00:58 AM PDT by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
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To: MichCapCon

Why do I get the feeling that she will spend the next 16 years making her students sorry that she wasn’t allowed to retire at 47?


15 posted on 04/26/2012 7:02:11 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: AnTiw1

I would probably be on death row if I had been a teacher.


16 posted on 04/26/2012 7:04:40 AM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: lonestar

I bet her students wish she had retired years ago. The self-absorbed, union, mercinary loser who talks of her “service” is quite the fool. i hope the school downsizes and fires her son. For the children, you know.


17 posted on 04/26/2012 7:08:50 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: lonestar

I bet her students wish she had retired years ago. The self-absorbed, union, mercinary loser who talks of her “service” is quite the fool. i hope the school downsizes and fires her soon. For the children, you know.


18 posted on 04/26/2012 7:09:03 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: hal ogen

Nothing wrong with wishing to retire at 47. I’m envious. My father retired from the military with 28 years service at the age of 44. I’m envious. I work to live... not live to work.


19 posted on 04/26/2012 7:09:03 AM PDT by Mashood
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To: MichCapCon

Where but the public sector can you retire at 60,000 per annum with guaranteed COLAs?

In the business world, you fund all (or 90% plus) of your own retirement. If you are lucky you can find an affordable COBRA plan (not likely). You get NO guaranteed anything. AND if you plan really well you may be able to retire when you are 60 or so more likely 66 or later.

I am so sick of teachers unions and their whining members I could scream....


20 posted on 04/26/2012 7:09:40 AM PDT by Nifster
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