Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/42291
CTA recommendations for CalSTRS S election CTA recommends three candidates to fill seats on the California ecommends the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) board. They are Phyllis Hall (left) and incum- bents Dana Dillon (center) and Harry Keiley (right). Ballots will Dana Ballots will be mailed Oct. 1 and will be accepted until No til Nov. 30. Retired Chico middle school teacher John Watson said during a June news conference, "The fact that teachers, firefighters and other public servants have secure pension plans is not the problem. The problem is that other workers do not. Instead of attacking teachers and public servants over our modest retire- ment benefits, we should be focusing our dis- cussion on ways to create better retirement options for everyone." Retired teachers are not the only CTA members who should be concerned. Pub- lic employee pensions have taken the stage front and center in California and through- out the United States over the past year. Although there are no state pension reform initiatives threatened imminently, the issue is not likely to blow over soon. At least one pension reformer, former Schwarzeneg- ger adviser Dan Pellissier, is "guaranteeing" a measure for the November 2012 ballot. By Dina Martin EDITOR'S NOTE: At press time, Secretary of State Deborah Bowen gave the go-ahead for signature-gathering to begin on three anti- union initiatives. One would increase the retirement age for public employees to 65, one would increase the income tax on pensions in excess of $100,000 to 15 percent and higher, and another would eliminate bargaining rights for public employee unions altogether. Five myths about teachers' retirement MYTH: FACT: The retirement fund is a taxpayer giveaway. Over the life of their careers, teachers contribute 8 percent of their monthly pay to their retirement. Employers kick in another 8.25 percent of monthly pay, the state contributes just over 2 percent and the returns garnered by CalSTRS investments do the rest. MYTH: FACT: MYTH: FACT: MYTH: FACT: Teachers retire too early and into a life of luxury. The average benefit payment is $3,300 per month while the number of years a teacher works for those benefits averages 27. Teachers engage in pension 'spiking.' CalSTRS is vigilant in preventing spiking. All extra compensation for teachers over and above their normal salary gets put into a separate account that can- not be used toward their final retirement salary. The CalSTRS system is headed toward insolvency. While it is true that CalSTRS has a $40 billion shortfall, this is not an amount that is paid overnight. Just like a mortgage, this is an amount that will need to be closed over 30 years, not in the first month's payment. Even under current economic conditions, CalSTRS has sufficient assets and projected contribu- tions to pay benefits until 2044. MYTH: FACT: Our state would be better off financially without having to contribute to teach- ers' retirement benefits. The state benefits economically from teachers' retirement benefits. In fact, $4.5 billion in value is added to the state's economy each year from generated business activity from retirement benefits. Entire counties depend on that retirement income. MORE INFO More resources can be found on CTA's website at www.cta.org/retirement or the Californians for Retirement Security website, letstalkpensions.com and Facebook page, www.facebook.com/LetsTalkPensions. September 2011 / www.cta.org 39 FIVE MYTHS