Posted on 04/18/2010 2:27:14 PM PDT by Coleus
Teacher retirements could jump seven-fold, with as many as 30,000 veteran educators exiting before the next school year if the Christie administration alters benefits and pension rules, the NJEA said Thursday. The state teachers union warned of chaos in the classroom and “irreparable damage to every school system in the state” following news that the administration is working out the details of a plan to change the rules for those who receive medical benefits and pensions through the state.
School employees and retirees make up the largest group in the system, and Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said it was hoped the changes could coax enough retirements to avoid layoffs next year. Nearly every district in the state is grappling with staff cuts as steep reductions in state aid are planned under the Christie budget.
“It’s conceivable you could have more retirements than you need so districts could have to do more hiring,” said Schundler. He said salary and benefits for new hires cost 83 percent less than those for veteran teachers. Under the tentative plan, outlined by Schundler, employees and retirees would pay more toward their medical benefits; an amount has not yet been settled upon, but it could be a percentage of any increases in premiums. Employees who retire before August 1 would still be eligible for free lifetime medical benefits.
The calculation of pension at retirement, now based on the salary during the last three years of employment, would be changed to include the last five years of service, Schundler said. The change could mean a reduction of several thousand dollars annually in pension payments for teachers at the top of the pay scale, said Passaic’s Robert Holster, one of the state’s longest serving schools chiefs.
Holster estimates that 25 percent of his staff could be “packing their bags” if the proposals are enacted. That number represents veteran teachers in range of retirement, whose salaries average $109,000. A large number of administrators would likely retire as well, he said. Holster has prepared a budget for next year that includes the layoff of 138 staff in the district because of the state cuts. But he said the teachers union was not budging when he asked that they act on the Governor’s request that they take a one-year pay freeze.
“They looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language,” said Holster. “If they took it I wouldn’t need to have layoffs.” The retirements may stem layoffs and save money in the short term, but union and school leaders said such significant turnover could be disruptive and counterproductive.
In a press release, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said the flood of retirements could also strain the state’s anemic pension system. Teachers contribute 5.5 percent of each paycheck to the pension fund but the state has for 15 years underfunded its share, Keshishian said.
“The average teacher retires at age 61,” said Keshishian. “It is estimated that for every year that a teacher retires sooner than she otherwise would, the cost to the pension system increases by 10 percent for her pension and benefits.” Veteran teachers are eligible to retire at 55; the age has recently been pushed to 60 for new hires. Christie’s office did not return a call for comment Thursday evening. The plan would need legislative action and Schundler said the administration hopes to have something to the lawmakers by May in the hopes so that it could be effective for August 1.
Keshishian warned of the disruption for districts that would need to scramble to hire new staff just a month before school starts in September. And school leaders worried about training large numbers of new hires, particularly after veteran mentors have retired. James Montesano, superintendent in Paramus, said there’s far less “dead wood” among the veteran teaching staffs than the public often believes.
“There’s this perception both from what I’m reading from the governor’s comments and people in general, that they feel once a teacher hits 25 years of experience they turn into Mrs. Crabtree,” said James Montesano, superintendent of schools in Paramus. “There are a lot of very inspirational teachers that have never lost their love of the classroom. Asking them to step aside, there’s a tradeoff, it’s not just a windfall.”
All defined benefit pensions should be outlawed. This type of pension "banks" on the solvency of the entity 20-30 yrs in the future. The only type of pensions that should be allowed are 401K's, or in the case of govt 403B's. In these pensions a % is deducted from earnings and the co. contributes a % as well. The monies are put into an account the co. has no control over and can never touch again.
It is more like the folks at United Airlines who the Supreme Court gave the go ahead to to rob their pension plan to strave off banruptcy.
Ultimately they did declare bankruptcy and afterwards the congress passed a law that all future pensions had to be 401k's in the airline industry. Govt should be under the same system.
The problem is the benefits liabilities in some states is so great that even if all future employees were paying for their insurance and their pensions were 401k's it won't be enough to balance budgets.
Flush them all...
Let me talk about the marginal increases in teachers salaries in NJ. We’re talking about the salary increases the senior-most teachers are getting in their final 3 years of teaching.
1. They increase their education and certification levels.
2. They take every stipend assignment possible, be it sports coach, cafeteria monitoring, study hall, etc.
3. They teach extra courses.
4. They teach summer courses.
What the union is complaining about is the fact there are only so many of these salary enhancing assignments available per school system. These slots/assignments have been passed along from the most senior teachers/admins to the most senior teachers/admins, year after year for decades, so that as many of the “in cliche” teachers/admins in their final three years can maximize their salaries to maximize their pension calculation.
The unions are complaining that there would need to be 66% MORE of these salary maximizing opportunities per school district to allow the senior most teachers to take these opportunities for the final 5 years instead of the final 3 years.
The unions is also claiming that the senior most teachers in their preplanned last 5 or 6 years of teaching would head for the exits before the new pension calculation law goes in to effect.
Let me tell you something, new teachers will fill every one of those full time tenure track positions, some schools are getting over 600 applications for every position right now.
And I’ll tell you something else, it will only take a year or two for the controlling cliche of senior teachers/administrators to adjust their salary and pension maximizing strategies to the new 5 year calculation regime. It will just cause the hyenas to become even more savage when it comes time for yearly assignments.
I agree for the most part but it won't stop the government from spending money it doesn't have. In 20-30 years the government would be eying those 401K plans (as they're doing now). The only thing that will stop the federal government is a balance budget amendment.
and who can we thank? none other than “republican” governor tom kean who raised the minimum salary of all teachers in NJ, which allowed all the others to be bumped up for parity and the rest is history, no turning back.
My prior post was a bit more preachy than usual.
Also, I agree with everything you posted in 39.
If theoretically, Christie offered 66% more ways for the senior most teachers/admins to boost their salary for the final 5 years of employment while otherwise proposing the same rules, then in this hypothetical the NJEA would have supported the plan.
Those corrupt bureaucrats who help out other corrupt bureaucrats pad the salary during the final three years too often are also the union liaisons for the schools and school districts.
This would bring in new, young teachers who would be striving to do their best to not get fired.
The states are the canaries in the mines so to speak. They are feeling the squeeze because unlike the fed govt they can't print money. The fed is going to end up in the same spot because they can't monetize the debt with entitlements tied to inflation.
The only thing that will stop the federal government is a balance budget amendment.
I agree!
Buh Bye
How many teacher applications are languishing in the school board files? More than enough to replace the retirees, I would guess.
Maybe you’ll even be able to get a teaching job without being related to someone on the school board...imagine that
I very much doubt that.
In fact, if "tenure" and automatic raises are eliminated in all new contracts, I predict a significant increase in competent graduations and test scores.
But you'll have to really really pressure the politicians and unions to get access to the statistics in years to come.
Public relations and advertising?
I can see that with your superior IQ and intellect, you chose a challenging career.
It must be downhill from there.
Why don't you take the a*****e test?
Give a few dozen family members and acquaintances questionnaires to be returned anonymously with a single question, and let us know the results.
Strange thing : I met many truly brilliant people in my working career, and not a single one ever had to remind others of the fact. They must have all had defective "arrogance" genes...
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