MaryJae
New System Shortchanges Teachers
RECEIVED Wed., April 24, 2013
Dear Editor,
The proposed changes to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas are immoral. Imagine that your employer promised you a pension for working 30 years, then two decades later changed the rules so you have to work 11 extra years before retiring.
This could happen to thousands of teachers if SB 1458/HB 1884 is passed. The old system allows teachers to retire when their age and years of service total 80 years. The new law would require they also be 62 years old. There is a “grandfather” clause that exempts teachers who are 50 years old or have age and service totaling 70 years. But a 45-year-old teacher with 23 years of service is out of luck. Instead of retiring in 6 years as promised, he or she would have to work 17 more years.
Does your child have a dedicated teacher in his or her mid-forties? Is it right to change his or her contract 20 years into a career? When did it become acceptable to attack our hard-working teachers?
Please ask your senator and/or representative to vote against SB 1458/HB 1884.
The proposed changes to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas are immoral. Imagine that your employer promised you a pension for working 30 years, then two decades later changed the rules so you have to work 11 extra years before retiring.
This could happen to thousands of teachers if SB 1458/HB 1884 is passed. The old system allows teachers to retire when their age and years of service total 80 years. The new law would require they also be 62 years old. There is a “grandfather” clause that exempts teachers who are 50 years old or have age and service totaling 70 years. But a 45-year-old teacher with 23 years of service is out of luck. Instead of retiring in 6 years as promised, he or she would have to work 17 more years.
Does your child have a dedicated teacher in his or her mid-forties? Is it right to change his or her contract 20 years into a career? When did it become acceptable to attack our hard-working teachers?
Please ask your senator and/or representative to vote against SB 1458/HB 1884.
Francis McGrath
