from the Reid Report
When Rick Scott was running for Florida governor, he tagged his “let’s get to work” jobs plan “777.” Now that he’s in office and has issued his first budget, the numbers that come to mind are more like “666.” How bad is Scott for Florida? Let me count the ways …
1. He doesn’t understand the difference between campaigning and governing. Scott unveiled his budget plan at a tea party gathering. And while that might make Florida’s tea party activists feel important, the election is over. Scott is going to have to come to terms with the fact that while he didn’t win a majority of Floridians’ support, he is stuck governing everybody, including people who are not part of the tea party movement. By unveiling his plans at a highly partisan gathering that represents perhaps a third of Floridians at best, Scott revealed that he’s more interested in positioning himself ideologically than in behaving as a statesman. From the Miami Herald:
Scott’s initial budget roll-out in Eustis had the look and feel of a highly partisan, heavily scripted campaign event. The venue underscored Scott’s eagerness to make what is normally a staid, policy-laden event into one that turned the budget into a political declaration. Inside the cavernous First Baptist Church of Eustis, Scott stood in front of a made-for-TV backdrop that said “Reducing Spending & Holding Government Accountable.”
The church, which seats 800, was filled to overflowing, and people waved miniature American flags and sang God Bless the USA and God Bless America. Warm-up speakers criticized President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and praised Roger Vinson, the federal judge in Pensacola who last week struck down the Obama health plan as unconstitutional.
Before the public event, Scott hosted a private lunch for tea party activists at a nearby civic center. Activists said they would push for Scott’s budget in the same way they fought health care reform.
“This budget will reshape the state, and we want all of our legislators to know we’re behind this,” said Apryl Marie Fogel, state director of Americans for Prosperity Florida.
And if you’re not in the tea party? Well, there’s always 2014.
2. He thinks he’s above the law. That’s no surprise given his history of presiding over record Medicare fraud, then skating with a giant bag full of cash while his underlings took the fall with the feds. But Scott’s flagrant defiance of even the simplest strictures — like the Sunshine Laws — places him at the far authoritarian end of the spectrum, even further on that scale than Jeb Bush. Scott’s officiousness extends to the press, whom he thinks should treat him like a regent, and even to the cabinet, whom he treats like the court of petty dictator, “suggesting” that they run their regulations by him as if they were not themselves elected statewide (they rather curtly declined.) That kind of thing might fly for a petty dictator, but Scott, thankfully, is no dictator. Petty is another matter.
3. Scott is bad for eduction. Florida in order to attract good jobs needs to have a world class education system. The state already struggles with low graduation rates, especially for minority students, and Scott in his new budget breaks a campaign pledge to hold education harmless in his quest to cut spending. Scott’s proposed budget slashes education spending in Florida by 10 percent – which he said just a week ago he wouldn’t do. (He’s now trying to claim that he never said he wouldn’t cut eduction funding, to which Politifact Florida replies: FALSE.) Even Republicans, who have total control over Florida’s government and thus could pass Scott’s plan quite easily seemed taken aback by the plan. Even the most ideological among them apparently understands that cutting education at a time when Florida is trying to attract high tech and other businesses to the state to diversify the tourism-agriculture based economy, and just months after the state was awarded federal Race to the Top dollars as a reward for efforts during the Charlie Crist era to reform the state’s public schools is short sighted at best. Scott is even proposing to slash funding for the state’s colleges and for research, which would damage Florida immensely and make the state less competitive for top high school seniors as well as businesses.
It ‘s a lack of foresight that’s equal to Scott’s already established lack of basic human compassion. And coupled with the coming plans that will chase good teachers out of the state by reviving the teacher mercenary bill SB6 (a joint project of Scott and the right wing Republican legislature) Florida is likely headed back to the bottom of the heap in national education rankings.
4. He’s not so good at math. Maybe Scott is so quick to cut education because it’s not his personal strong suit. The budget that the governor unveiled to his tea party friends purports to close the state’s massive, $3.6 billion budget gap by cutting taxes (read “revenues”) and to grow jobs by cutting them. The lowlights:
… Eliminating 1,690 jobs from the Department of Corrections
Despite earlier pledges to cut $1 billion from prison spending, Scott has only targeted $82 million in corrections cuts. But that will mean the loss of nearly 1,700 jobs, the most of any state agency.
… An 8,700 overall reduction in the state government workforce
In addition to the almost 1,700 jobs Scott wants to eliminate from the Department of Corrections, he plans to cut approximately 7,000 more positions throughout the state government. The Miami Herald notes that despite these drastic reductions, Scott has budgeted for increased personnel in his own executive office. Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith has already issued a press release calling Scott’s plan a “jobs-killing budget.”
… Tax cuts worth $4 billion
Perhaps the most striking feature of Gov. Scott’s budget plan is a call for tax cuts totaling nearly $4 billion over the next two years. These include a $1.4 billion reduction in property taxes and a 1.5 percent drop in the corporate income tax.
Per the Miami Herald:
Prisons
* Proposes eliminating 1,690 employees from Department of Corrections by closing two prisons.
Corrections houses more than 100,000 inmates in 146 facilities, employing 18,200 employees.
Property Taxes
* State-set school property taxes would be cut by $1 billion over two years. Scott had pledged a $1.4 billion cut in the first year, but is phasing in a lesser tax cut over two years.
* Water management districts would be asked to take a 25 percent reducting in their annual property tax levy for two years, contributing $178 million and school districts would be expected to rollback taxes $507 million in first year.
Corporate Income Tax
* Corporate income tax would drop from 5.5 percent to 3 percent in 2011-12 and be phased out by 2018.* * The first year savings would be $458 million statewide.
Fees
* Motor vehicle fees would be scaled back, saving $235 million.
Environment
* The Department of Community Affairs would be merged with the Department of Environmental Protection, eliminating 530 jobs over two years. DCA staff will decrease to 40 employees within two years; budget drops to $70 million.
So Scott’s plan to grow jobs starts by cutting nearly 10,000 jobs, and his plan to close the budget gap starts with slashing state revenues. And how would Scott make up the revenues? Scott doesn’t say, and that’s even got Republicans scratching their heads and demanding actual details. Perhaps he’ll give the 411 to his tea party friends at some point, so they can tell the rest of us.
5. Scott’s proposals would harm Florida’s most vulnerable. Cutting Medicaid, and gutting the corrections department and the Department of Children and families… those are just three of the awful proposals Scott is putting on the table. And as even Republicans are pointing out, his cuts net out to relatively small cost savings to go with the loss of jobs and services. The Herald once again:
The criticisms and tough questions weren’t limited to Democrats; Scott’s fellow Republicans were skeptical of what many thought were skimpy details in his $65.9 billion budget.
The bipartisan concerns underscored a growing sense in the Legislature that Scott’s proposal is rooted in unrealistic political calculations, not the subtle calculus it takes to run the nation’s fourth-most populous state. In the House K-12 budget committee on Tuesday morning, eyebrows arched and heads shook as lawmakers tried digesting Scott’s plan to slash state-paid per-student spending by 10 percent.
“A 10 percent reduction is a significant cut,” said committee Chairwoman Marti Coley, R-Marianna.
Coley and Rep. Janet Adkins scolded Scott’s office for trying to “have it both ways” with the education budget. Scott said he’s against the use of federal stimulus money, but his office tacitly encourages school districts to use the money to boost per-pupil spending.
“It’s imperative that you go back and you redo the numbers,” said Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach.
In the House health appropriations committee, Republicans and Democrats flummoxed another Scott aide who had difficulties explaining his plans to cut $3 billion from Medicaid over two years.
Rep. Jose Diaz, R-Miami, said he struggling with the idea of deeply cutting the Department of Children and Families and privatizing mental-health facilities.
“My math tells me that the 2,500 jobs that you’re getting rid of only leads to a 4 percent reduction in the budget,” Diaz said. “It’s only an $8 million savings in an almost $3 billion budget. That seems like a significant loss of jobs for a very small gain.”
More on those Medicaid Cuts: Scott is proposing to slash $3 billion from the state-administered federal program over two years, “including $1 billion in cuts to provider reimbursement rates,” according to the Herald.
Savings are expected by receiving federal approval to transfer all 3 million Medicaid patients into a managed care program which would control costs and crack down on fraud.
But wait, there’s more! Scott also wants to privatize Florida’s Veterans’ homes (another chapter in his “let us make a profit, so what?” philosophy on Medicare, perhaps.) From the Orlando Sentinel:
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s $65.8 billion spending pitch to lawmakers includes privatizing veterans homes, mental health facilities and developmental disability centers, which the governor’s budget staff has concluded will save $103.9 million.
Scott health-care policy coordinator Jane Johnson said the governor’s office was still working with Veterans Affairs director Bob Milligan on the specifics of how to hand veterans homes over to private enterprise, a concept she called “public instrumentality.”
“The homes would be operated as a private entity and the employees would not be public employees,” Johnson told the House Health Care Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
The Veteran Affairs budget would get cut $38 million as part of the plan to hand over those nursing homes for vets to a quasi-public organization like the state’s housing finance corporation. Johnson said 80 percent of the department’s budget goes to 700 veterans in nursing homes, and that the department felt its funding would be better-spent on the other 1.8 million Florida veterans.
But lawmakers’ first-blush reaction to the idea of privatizing veterans’ nursing homes was muted.
“While creative and out of the box, [it] certainly creates a lot of questions in our minds about how it gets pulled together,” said Health Care Appropriations Chairman Matt Hudson, R-Naples.
Of course, we all remember how well privatization worked out for Walter Reed …
So far, Scott’s plan to raid $600 million from local taxes dedicated to healthcare, particularly in South Florida, and leech the money into general revenues is probably dead on arrival, but the fact that the former hospital executive thought it was a good idea is telling. Scott also wants to shift thousands of inmates to private prisons, along with a few less than awful prison reforms. And that’s not even to get into Scott and his fellow Republicans’ ideas on drug testing the jobless and forcing them to take low wage work, while cutting the taxes businesses pay to cover the unemployed.
6. He thinks corporations have more rights than actual people. Scott’s plan to lower electricity rates for business (while also eliminating corporate taxes) would mean higher utility rates for the rest of us. From the Herald Tribune in December:
TALLAHASSEE – With Gov.-elect Rick Scott promising to save businesses a stunning $3.2 billion on their electric bills, consumer groups are bracing for a fight, fearing his plan will push higher costs onto residential customers.
Scott’s advisers are floating the idea of an “economic development rate” for corporations that agree to relocate to Florida or expand businesses within the state. The level of utility cost savings would be tied to job creation, under the plan.
But Florida’s four big investor-owned utilities would not have to absorb the rate reduction — or ask investors to pick up the tab, said those familiar with the proposal. Instead, rate reductions given these companies would be offset by higher charges imposed on a utility’s overall rate base — with residential customers shouldering most of the costs.
“What’s good for businesses is going to be too bad for consumers,” said Bill Newton, executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network. “The only thing we can hope for is that a rate increase can backfire on legislators, and they may not want to get involved in it.”
Scott communications director Brian Burgess would not comment on the rate plan. But utility industry officials briefed on the plan by members of Scott’s economic development transition team say the proposal is designed to help him reach a central goal of his campaign: creating 700,000 jobs over the next seven years.
It also would help Scott meet a campaign pledge to “address Florida’s relatively expensive electricity costs so businesses could save approximately $3.25 billion,” part of the Republican candidate’s regulatory reform platform.
Tampa Electric Co. and Florida Power & Light, two of the state’s largest publicly-held utilities, were among the top contributors to Florida political campaigns this fall, with each giving more than $1.2 million, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
And as one columnist pointed out:
It’s a curious plan. If Scott had said this during the election… “We’re going to subsidize electricity rates for businesses by jacking up already high electricity rates for residential customers”… I’m not sure he would even be stepping into the governor’s role next week. The early winter cold spell alone will put plenty of Floridians in shock when they get their next electric bill — without a hike in rates.
Business backers, not surprisingly, like the Florida Chamber of Commerce (surely eager to stay in Scott’s good graces after opposing him in the Republican primary) think Scott’s idea is just peachy. Funny how nobody mentioned this concept as a brilliant way to generate jobs in Florida until the new Guv-To-Be brought it up.
Like his “let us make a profit, so what?” attitude toward privatizing Medicare, it’s a sign that this is a person (or robot) who thinks corporate profits matter more than consumers, or voters. That kind of lack of basic respect for humanity is great for sociopaths, bad for governors.
7. His immigration plans threaten tourism, Florida’s Latin American commerce, and Major League Baseball. Scott, who used to own part of the Texas Rangers with George W. Bush, has said he wants to attract more MLB teams to do spring training in Florida. Ironically, he also wants to mirror the other big spring training state: Arizona, in pushing through anti-immigrant laws that invariably target Hispanics, who happen to make up 30 percent of the MLB’s rosters. And how would Scott’s anti-imimgrant stance play with the Latin American businesspeople who frequent South Florida? Short answer: it won’t help. Now, it seems that immigration could create yet another divide between the no-experience governor and the veto-proof majority in his party:
ORLANDO, Fla. —A month before the legislative session begins in Tallahassee, Republican leaders in Florida are divided over whether to enact an anti-immigration law similar to SB 1070 in Arizona, La Prensa reports.
Last week, the president of the state senate, Mike Haridopolos, R-Merrit Island, said that a law like the one enacted in Arizona would not be good for Florida. Agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, also a Republican, agreed, saying it would not be financially viable.
Gov. Rick Scott, meanwhile, affirmed his support of an Arizona-style immigration law in Florida, and insisted that police should have the ability to ask people for immigration papers while they go about their jobs, even during routine stops.
Scott, who ran his election campaign on an anti-immigration platform, signed an executive order requiring Florida state agents to use the E-Verify document verification system for all employees, including subcontractors.
William Snyder, R-Stuart, who drafted a bill similar to SB 1070 last August, said he is considering making some changes to the bill and that the final version would not be as harsh as what Gov. Scott is supporting.
Scott is also pushing requirements that all government agencies and contractors utilize the E-Verify system. So what’s the problem? Costs:
An Migration Policy Institute report released Tuesday concludes that extending the use of the E-Verify employment program at the federal level may cause more harm to U.S. workers and the economy than it would deter illegal immigration.
Operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, ”E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify is fast, free and easy to use – and it’s the best way employers can ensure a legal workforce.”
The Migration Policy report states that “after five years of dramatic growth is is unclear how E-Verify affects hiring practices, especially in industries that rely more heavily on foreign workers.” (See the full report below.)
The report indicates that as of January 2011, a little more than 11,000 Florida employers are enrolled in the program. Over 240,000 are enrolled across the U.S.
On his first day in office, Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order requiring all state agencies and companies that contract with state agencies to screen employees using the E-Verify system.
State Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, who at one point called E-Verify a “bogus deal,” filedSenate Bill 518 to require every employer to use the “Employment Authorization Program,” prohibit an employer from hiring an unauthorized alien and require every public employer to register with and participate in the E-Verify system.
And then there’s this:
TALLAHASSEE — Florida legislators should think twice before considering an Arizona-style immigration law, a South Florida law professor warned Monday.
Not only would a Florida law likely be struck down by federal courts, it could backfire on the state’s tourism-based economy, Ediberto Roman, an immigration-law expert at Florida International University, told a Senate panel.
“Florida’s population is much different than Arizona’s,” Roman said. “The economy thrives on foreign tourists.”
And this:
State Rep. William Snyder has portrayed his Arizona-style immigration bill as a foregone conclusion for Florida.
If he doesn’t push for the law cracking down on illegal immigrants, there are a slew of other lawmakers who will, the Republican from Stuart said earlier this month during a town hall meeting in Palm City.
We had little reason to doubt that — until last week.
That’s when some of the state’s most powerful business lobbies voiced their concerns about the damage such a law could do to Florida’s image and business climate.
During a special Senate committee meeting in Tallahassee on Monday, representatives from the Florida Chamber of Commerce shared a report examining the impact of immigration on the state’s economy.
Among the key points:
Immigration boosts productivity, improves the economy and has a small positive impact on the wages of native-born workers.
Despite the perception that the United States is being overwhelmed by immigrants, the inflow of legal and illegal immigrants “is well within historical norms,” data shows.
Though unauthorized immigrants cost the state money in terms of education and criminal justice, many studies demonstrate a net positive impact on the economy and tax revenues.
“The immigrants that come to the United States come to work,” said Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation and co-author of the report.
The numbers tend to ebb and flow with the economy. He pointed to research that shows the 10 states with the highest concentration of immigrants between 1960 and 1990 had a median unemployment rate that was lower than the 10 states with the fewest immigrants.
Brill was careful not give his opinion on Snyder’s bill or a similar bill already filed by state Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Sarasota.
But the Florida Chamber made no secret of its general preferences. It wants federal-level immigration reform that eases the cost burden for states and provides opportunities to create more legal immigration.
“A state-by-state approach, from our board’s perspective, creates confusion and uncertainty,” said Adam Babington, vice president of governmental affairs for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
The position was echoed by Associated Industries of Florida, a lobbying organization for businesses that also addressed the Senate committee.
It went a step further by criticizing a federal E-Verify system that would require businesses to determine the legal status of workers before hiring them.
Gov. Rick Scott recently signed an executive order requiring state agencies to use the system. Snyder’s draft bill calls for employing it across the state.
“The fact of the matter is E-Verify will always have an error rate due to the fact that it does not prevent identity fraud,” warned Brewster Bevis, vice president of government affairs for Associated Industries of Florida.
The group pointed out that demand for temporary agricultural workers has outpaced supply through the H-2A visa program.
Considering the essential role immigrant workers play in agriculture, tourism and construction — three of Florida’s biggest industries — the input is likely to carry weight with elected officials. It already has.
One of the state’s top Republicans, newly elected agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, has shunned the idea of an Arizona-style bill in Florida. Putnam’s office says duplicating Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, which is being challenged in federal court, “is the wrong approach.”
Even state Sen. Bennett is not sure if he would vote for his own bill. …
Ironically, what might ultimately save Floridians from the disaster that Scott’s policies would inflict on the state could be his own political party, which after all, is the only thing standing in his way.
http://blog.reidreport.com/2011/02/menace-to-society-7-reasons-rick-scott-is-bad-for-florida/
Showing posts with label teacher pensions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teacher pensions. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Florida Legislature and their apparent distain for teachers
The Legislature greets controversial former D.C. Education Chancellor as if she is a hero, while most superintendants and teachers in Florida can’t get their phone calls returned or e-mails read. They listen intently to her as she spouts her anti-teacher rhetoric even though it is based on unfounded data or practice because it reaffirms what they already want to believe and do.
Jacksonville’s own Steven Wise, no friend to public education is leading the charge for Ms. Rhee’s education deforms. He says he worked to avoid the problems that Senate Bill Six had last year but after listening to his glowing praise of Rhee (he called her a movie star) who he had address several different sessions of the legislature and the lip service he gave to teachers, who got a few hours of committee time, it is hard to imagine that he didn’t already have his mind made up.
Before the legislature runs head long into dramatically altering the way teachers are paid, instead of just listening to Rhee’s demagoguery the legislature should do some research. Study after study has said merit pay based solely on testing does not identify the best teachers. It shows what teacher got the luck of the draw. It doesn’t work.
The legislature is also seeking to strip away from teachers what they mockingly call tenure but what is actually due process. Here in Jacksonville that means that after three years of service teachers can’t just be fired for any reason, which is what could happen in the future if Rhee and the legislature get their way.
Then finally before she took her limo to her private jet she also endorsed the proposed 5% pay cut to be given to all teachers, not the best paid group to begin with, to pay for their pensions. I get it we need pension reform but in this economy when many teachers are little more than pay check to pay check, is the right thing to do to take away five percent of their money. The millionaires that make up the legislature seem to think this is acceptable.
We want reforms, okay, but let’s make our reforms based on sound research not because a woman who was on Oprah thinks it is a good idea.
We want to streamline the process to get rid of bad teachers let’s do it but let’s not strip the good teachers of their right to due process and let's insist that principals and districts use the procedures in place the meantime.
We want pension reform, okay, let’s roll it out slowly so we don't hurt the thousands of teachers here in the state to much. Then at the same time lets close the tax loopholes which which only benefit a select few that see the Florida coffers looted of billions.
It’s hard to imagine the Florida legislature getting it more wrong, it is like the purposely want to hurt teachers and through extension public schools and children. Instead they should be working with teachers to find out what they need to help our children.
Please let your legislator know that, not punishing teachers, is what you want them to do.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Jacksonville’s own Steven Wise, no friend to public education is leading the charge for Ms. Rhee’s education deforms. He says he worked to avoid the problems that Senate Bill Six had last year but after listening to his glowing praise of Rhee (he called her a movie star) who he had address several different sessions of the legislature and the lip service he gave to teachers, who got a few hours of committee time, it is hard to imagine that he didn’t already have his mind made up.
Before the legislature runs head long into dramatically altering the way teachers are paid, instead of just listening to Rhee’s demagoguery the legislature should do some research. Study after study has said merit pay based solely on testing does not identify the best teachers. It shows what teacher got the luck of the draw. It doesn’t work.
The legislature is also seeking to strip away from teachers what they mockingly call tenure but what is actually due process. Here in Jacksonville that means that after three years of service teachers can’t just be fired for any reason, which is what could happen in the future if Rhee and the legislature get their way.
Then finally before she took her limo to her private jet she also endorsed the proposed 5% pay cut to be given to all teachers, not the best paid group to begin with, to pay for their pensions. I get it we need pension reform but in this economy when many teachers are little more than pay check to pay check, is the right thing to do to take away five percent of their money. The millionaires that make up the legislature seem to think this is acceptable.
We want reforms, okay, but let’s make our reforms based on sound research not because a woman who was on Oprah thinks it is a good idea.
We want to streamline the process to get rid of bad teachers let’s do it but let’s not strip the good teachers of their right to due process and let's insist that principals and districts use the procedures in place the meantime.
We want pension reform, okay, let’s roll it out slowly so we don't hurt the thousands of teachers here in the state to much. Then at the same time lets close the tax loopholes which which only benefit a select few that see the Florida coffers looted of billions.
It’s hard to imagine the Florida legislature getting it more wrong, it is like the purposely want to hurt teachers and through extension public schools and children. Instead they should be working with teachers to find out what they need to help our children.
Please let your legislator know that, not punishing teachers, is what you want them to do.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The mixed up Florida legislature gets’s it wrong again.
They greet controversial former D.C. Education Chancellor as if she is a hero, while most superintendants and teachers in Florida can’t get their phone calls returned or e-mails read. They listen intently to her as she spouts her anti-teacher rhetoric even though it is based on unfounded data or practice because it reaffirms what they already want to believe.
Jacksonville’s own Steven Wise, no friend to public education is leading the charge for Ms. Rhee’s education deforms. He says he worked to avoid the problems that Senate Bill Six had last year but after listening to his glowing praise of Rhee (he called her a movie star) who he had address the entire legislature and the lip service he gave to teachers a few hours of committee time, it is hard to imagine that he didn’t already have his mind made up.
Before the legislature runs head long into dramatically altering the way teachers are paid instead of just listening to Rhee’s demagoguery they should do some research. Study after study has said merit pay based solely on testing does not identify the best teachers. It shows what teacher got the luck of the draw. It doesn’t work.
The legislature is also seeking to strip away from teachers what they mockingly call tenure but what is actually due process. Here in Jacksonville that means that after three years of service teachers can’t just be fired for any reason, which is what could happen in the future if Rhee and the legislature get their way.
Then finally before she took her limo to her private jet she also endorsed the proposed 5% pay cut to be given to all teachers, not the best paid group to begin with, to pay for their pensions. I get it we need pension reform but in this economy when many teachers are little more than pay check to pay check, is the right thing to do to take away five percent of their money. The millionaires that make up the legislature seem to think this is acceptable.
We want reforms, okay, but let’s make our reforms based on sound research not because a woman who was on Oprah thinks it is a good idea.
We want to streamline the process to get rid of bad teachers let’s do it but let’s not strip the good teachers of their right to due process and let's insist that principals and districts use the procedures in place n meantime.
We want pension reform, okay, let’s roll it out slowly so we don't hurt the thousands of teachers here in the state to much. Then at the same time lets close the tax loopholes which which only benefit a select few that see the Florida coffers looted of billions.
It’s hard to imagine the Florida legislature getting it more wrong, it is like the purposely want to hurt teachers and through extension public schools and children. Instead they should be working with teachers to find out what they need to help our children.
Please let your legislator know that, not punishing teachers, is what you want them to do.
Jacksonville’s own Steven Wise, no friend to public education is leading the charge for Ms. Rhee’s education deforms. He says he worked to avoid the problems that Senate Bill Six had last year but after listening to his glowing praise of Rhee (he called her a movie star) who he had address the entire legislature and the lip service he gave to teachers a few hours of committee time, it is hard to imagine that he didn’t already have his mind made up.
Before the legislature runs head long into dramatically altering the way teachers are paid instead of just listening to Rhee’s demagoguery they should do some research. Study after study has said merit pay based solely on testing does not identify the best teachers. It shows what teacher got the luck of the draw. It doesn’t work.
The legislature is also seeking to strip away from teachers what they mockingly call tenure but what is actually due process. Here in Jacksonville that means that after three years of service teachers can’t just be fired for any reason, which is what could happen in the future if Rhee and the legislature get their way.
Then finally before she took her limo to her private jet she also endorsed the proposed 5% pay cut to be given to all teachers, not the best paid group to begin with, to pay for their pensions. I get it we need pension reform but in this economy when many teachers are little more than pay check to pay check, is the right thing to do to take away five percent of their money. The millionaires that make up the legislature seem to think this is acceptable.
We want reforms, okay, but let’s make our reforms based on sound research not because a woman who was on Oprah thinks it is a good idea.
We want to streamline the process to get rid of bad teachers let’s do it but let’s not strip the good teachers of their right to due process and let's insist that principals and districts use the procedures in place n meantime.
We want pension reform, okay, let’s roll it out slowly so we don't hurt the thousands of teachers here in the state to much. Then at the same time lets close the tax loopholes which which only benefit a select few that see the Florida coffers looted of billions.
It’s hard to imagine the Florida legislature getting it more wrong, it is like the purposely want to hurt teachers and through extension public schools and children. Instead they should be working with teachers to find out what they need to help our children.
Please let your legislator know that, not punishing teachers, is what you want them to do.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Get Ready for Massive Teacher Layoffs
From the SunSentinel.com
by By Leslie Postal and Dave Weber,
If Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget were to stand, Florida schools would suffer widespread layoffs and other devastating cutbacks, educators warned on Monday.
The governor's proposal would cut $3.3 billion from education spending and reduce funding for each student in public schools by about $700.
Under Scott's plan, teachers would help offset some of those cuts by being forced to contribute 5 percent of their salaries to their pensions.
But even then, Florida's school districts would face a "huge cut" for the school year that begins in July, said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
"If this were the final budget, which it's not, it would be massive layoffs and a total inability to meet class-size requirements."
Scott's budget unveiling left many Broward and Palm Beach county educators worried — and frustrated. The governor's budget website kept crashing, making it hard for some to see the documents, and he also changed the names of budget categories, making it hard to compare his spending plan to those from previous years.
But the bottom line is: All education spending would decrease more than $3 billion, with colleges and universities also taking a big hit. Per-student funding could fall to below $6,200, compared with $7,306 in 2007, without the money from the pension fund change.
Broward Schools Superintendent James Notter said on Monday that it will be good to be working with solid numbers and not just the threat of cutbacks.
Palm Beach County schools are preparing for a possible "worst-case scenario" budget shortfall of up to $174.2 million and a stronger potential for layoffs, based in part on the governor's budget proposal.
School district officials say the "best-case scenario" is a $71.6 million budget shortfall, if lawmakers wind up adopting a budget that resembles one requested by the state Board of Education.
Both shortfall figures represent $70.4 million in rising costs, including class-size reduction needs, and the loss of $38.8 million in federal stimulus funds.
"Those are big numbers," Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke told the School Board in his latest analysis, prepared before the governor's announcement. "In the last few years we've done everything we can to protect the classroom."
Administrators have not yet determined how to reduce spending to make up for potential shortfalls and rising costs.
"We have not resorted to layoffs to date but that's obviously going to be quite a challenge going forward," Burke said. "It's going to be a difficult budget process."Blanton said his message to educators now is, "don't panic." That's because the Florida Legislature sets the budget, and other spending proposals will be debated before a state budget is finalized this spring.
Scott unveiled his spending plan at a tea party rally in Lake County, calling it a "jobs budget" that would cut state spending and taxes and help boost Florida's sputtering economy. His proposal would cut property taxes that support public education by about $1.4 billion.
During his campaign, Scott pledged to hold education harmless, even with the tax cut.
On Monday he said his proposal accomplished that goal because school funding from the state's general revenue account would stay the same. But since his budget does not replace federal stimulus money that had been shoring up public schools for the past two years, it would leave school districts with far fewer dollars to spend.
"Gov. Scott's math does not add up," said the group Fund Education Now, founded by three Orlando mothers angry about Florida's investment in education.
The group said cutting school taxes would be a "catastrophic strike to the core functions of public schools."
Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel and Marc Freeman and Rafael Olmeda of the Sun Sentinel contributed to this story. Leslie Postal can be reached at lpostal@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5273. Dave Weber can be reached at dweber@orlandosentinel.com or 407-883-7885.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-scott-budget-education-palm-20110207,0,326649.story
by By Leslie Postal and Dave Weber,
If Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget were to stand, Florida schools would suffer widespread layoffs and other devastating cutbacks, educators warned on Monday.
The governor's proposal would cut $3.3 billion from education spending and reduce funding for each student in public schools by about $700.
Under Scott's plan, teachers would help offset some of those cuts by being forced to contribute 5 percent of their salaries to their pensions.
But even then, Florida's school districts would face a "huge cut" for the school year that begins in July, said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
"If this were the final budget, which it's not, it would be massive layoffs and a total inability to meet class-size requirements."
Scott's budget unveiling left many Broward and Palm Beach county educators worried — and frustrated. The governor's budget website kept crashing, making it hard for some to see the documents, and he also changed the names of budget categories, making it hard to compare his spending plan to those from previous years.
But the bottom line is: All education spending would decrease more than $3 billion, with colleges and universities also taking a big hit. Per-student funding could fall to below $6,200, compared with $7,306 in 2007, without the money from the pension fund change.
Broward Schools Superintendent James Notter said on Monday that it will be good to be working with solid numbers and not just the threat of cutbacks.
Palm Beach County schools are preparing for a possible "worst-case scenario" budget shortfall of up to $174.2 million and a stronger potential for layoffs, based in part on the governor's budget proposal.
School district officials say the "best-case scenario" is a $71.6 million budget shortfall, if lawmakers wind up adopting a budget that resembles one requested by the state Board of Education.
Both shortfall figures represent $70.4 million in rising costs, including class-size reduction needs, and the loss of $38.8 million in federal stimulus funds.
"Those are big numbers," Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke told the School Board in his latest analysis, prepared before the governor's announcement. "In the last few years we've done everything we can to protect the classroom."
Administrators have not yet determined how to reduce spending to make up for potential shortfalls and rising costs.
"We have not resorted to layoffs to date but that's obviously going to be quite a challenge going forward," Burke said. "It's going to be a difficult budget process."Blanton said his message to educators now is, "don't panic." That's because the Florida Legislature sets the budget, and other spending proposals will be debated before a state budget is finalized this spring.
Scott unveiled his spending plan at a tea party rally in Lake County, calling it a "jobs budget" that would cut state spending and taxes and help boost Florida's sputtering economy. His proposal would cut property taxes that support public education by about $1.4 billion.
During his campaign, Scott pledged to hold education harmless, even with the tax cut.
On Monday he said his proposal accomplished that goal because school funding from the state's general revenue account would stay the same. But since his budget does not replace federal stimulus money that had been shoring up public schools for the past two years, it would leave school districts with far fewer dollars to spend.
"Gov. Scott's math does not add up," said the group Fund Education Now, founded by three Orlando mothers angry about Florida's investment in education.
The group said cutting school taxes would be a "catastrophic strike to the core functions of public schools."
Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel and Marc Freeman and Rafael Olmeda of the Sun Sentinel contributed to this story. Leslie Postal can be reached at lpostal@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5273. Dave Weber can be reached at dweber@orlandosentinel.com or 407-883-7885.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-scott-budget-education-palm-20110207,0,326649.story
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Middle Class pays for Rick Scotts tax cuts
Have you noticed how the middle class is supposed to foot Rick Scotts cuts? -cpg
from the Miami Herald
BY DAVID SMILEY, KATHLEEN McGRORY, CARLI TEPROFF AND JULIE BROWN
Hal Krantz says it has been years since he brought home a pay raise. After 16 years of teaching, the married Coral Springs Middle School instructor with a daughter in college is struggling to stretch his salary while meeting the soaring costs of healthcare, food and other necessities.
Gov. Rick Scott's plan to compel public employees like Krantz to kick in as much as 5 percent of their paychecks into their pensions is causing quite a bit of angst. This is particularly true of teachers, who traditionally earn modest salaries offset by a broad benefits package, but also state workers, many of whom have not received pay raises in years.
The proposal is included in the budget that Scott will unveil Monday at a rally of tea party supporters in the Lake County community of Eustis.
Employees say the pension measure is the equivalent of a pay cut.
``We give up so much because we love this profession,'' said Krantz. `Now they are cutting even deeper into our pocket.''
Around the nation, governments are reeling from the poor economy and falling tax revenues. Supporters of Scott's plan, which would affect not just state workers but school employees and many municipal workers in the state retirement system, say it's imperative to change gears to keep the state and the pension fund solvent.
They note that for many in the private sector, salaries have fallen, jobs have grown scarce and traditional pensions have long since been replaced by 401(k) accounts that require workers to sock away money for their own retirement.
They point out that other states have already taken the step Scott is proposing. New York, for instance, requires employees to kick in 3 percent of their salary toward funding their pension for a period of 10 years.
Scott estimates it will save the state, which is facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall heading into the legislative session, $2.8 billion over two years.
``It's only fair that if you're going to have a pension plan, you're going to do just like the private sector does,'' Scott said.
Florida's pension system is currently funded by state and local governments contributing the equivalent of between 9 and 10 percent of an employee's income toward retirement. In the case of high-risk workers like police and firefighters, the percentage is higher.
Scott has talked of a 5 percent buy-in by employees -- basically splitting the difference with the state.
How generous is a state pension?
For most employees, after 30 years on the job, the annual stipend is equal to 48 percent of the average of that employee's highest five years of pay, according to the pension fund web site. The average recipient retires around age 60, at which point he or she can begin to collect.
There are currently 655,000 active members of the Florida Retirement System and another 304,000 retired workers receiving benefits. Up until now, those enrolled have not had to contribute any money to their plan.
``It's a pretty radical thing when you start talking about taxing state workers 5 percent of their salary in one year, when the majority of state workers haven't seen raises in five years,'' said Daniel Reynolds, national president of the National Federation of Public and Private Employees.
``While we are all reading and hearing about pension reform proposals with great interest, we don't know what is going to happen,'' BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal wrote in an e-mail. BSO employees are in the state system, as are Miami-Dade police.
``Everybody is on edge right now,'' said John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association.
Rivera predicted Scott's plan, as well as the possibility that new hires could be forced to buy into a system resembling a 401(k), would make staffing the Miami-Dade Police Department problematic.
``They're going to make an already impossible job that much more unattractive,'' he said.
Some civil servants feel as though Scott's proposal vilifies them.
``This whole issue gets to be a cruel myth blaming state employees for the budget deficit,'' said Paul Hunt, a former Coral Gables social worker who retired in November after 17 years. ``These are people who have worked honestly in the community, giving good service, and often taking lower wages now so they could retire with a sense of security.''
Broward Superintendent Jim Notter said the cuts would not only affect the district's 15,500 teachers but cause more hardship for its lowest-paid employees, like bus drivers. ``I believe in a time of economic crisis, it borders on insanity to further take money out of good employees' pockets,'' he said.
In Miami-Dade County, a first-year teacher earns $38,500; a 22-year veteran earns $68,225. For that starting teacher, the 5 percent contribution would be about $163 a month.
Unions have already vowed to fight the proposal, said United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz. ``What Rick Scott is really saying is let them eat cat food.''
Miami Herald staff writer Laura Figueroa contributed to this report, which includes information from members of HeraldSource, part of the Public Insight Network. To learn more about the network or to join, visit MiamiHerald.com/insight.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/06/v-fullstory/2054211/battle-shaping-up-over-pension.html#ixzz1DK4SqAs9
from the Miami Herald
BY DAVID SMILEY, KATHLEEN McGRORY, CARLI TEPROFF AND JULIE BROWN
Hal Krantz says it has been years since he brought home a pay raise. After 16 years of teaching, the married Coral Springs Middle School instructor with a daughter in college is struggling to stretch his salary while meeting the soaring costs of healthcare, food and other necessities.
Gov. Rick Scott's plan to compel public employees like Krantz to kick in as much as 5 percent of their paychecks into their pensions is causing quite a bit of angst. This is particularly true of teachers, who traditionally earn modest salaries offset by a broad benefits package, but also state workers, many of whom have not received pay raises in years.
The proposal is included in the budget that Scott will unveil Monday at a rally of tea party supporters in the Lake County community of Eustis.
Employees say the pension measure is the equivalent of a pay cut.
``We give up so much because we love this profession,'' said Krantz. `Now they are cutting even deeper into our pocket.''
Around the nation, governments are reeling from the poor economy and falling tax revenues. Supporters of Scott's plan, which would affect not just state workers but school employees and many municipal workers in the state retirement system, say it's imperative to change gears to keep the state and the pension fund solvent.
They note that for many in the private sector, salaries have fallen, jobs have grown scarce and traditional pensions have long since been replaced by 401(k) accounts that require workers to sock away money for their own retirement.
They point out that other states have already taken the step Scott is proposing. New York, for instance, requires employees to kick in 3 percent of their salary toward funding their pension for a period of 10 years.
Scott estimates it will save the state, which is facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall heading into the legislative session, $2.8 billion over two years.
``It's only fair that if you're going to have a pension plan, you're going to do just like the private sector does,'' Scott said.
Florida's pension system is currently funded by state and local governments contributing the equivalent of between 9 and 10 percent of an employee's income toward retirement. In the case of high-risk workers like police and firefighters, the percentage is higher.
Scott has talked of a 5 percent buy-in by employees -- basically splitting the difference with the state.
How generous is a state pension?
For most employees, after 30 years on the job, the annual stipend is equal to 48 percent of the average of that employee's highest five years of pay, according to the pension fund web site. The average recipient retires around age 60, at which point he or she can begin to collect.
There are currently 655,000 active members of the Florida Retirement System and another 304,000 retired workers receiving benefits. Up until now, those enrolled have not had to contribute any money to their plan.
``It's a pretty radical thing when you start talking about taxing state workers 5 percent of their salary in one year, when the majority of state workers haven't seen raises in five years,'' said Daniel Reynolds, national president of the National Federation of Public and Private Employees.
``While we are all reading and hearing about pension reform proposals with great interest, we don't know what is going to happen,'' BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal wrote in an e-mail. BSO employees are in the state system, as are Miami-Dade police.
``Everybody is on edge right now,'' said John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association.
Rivera predicted Scott's plan, as well as the possibility that new hires could be forced to buy into a system resembling a 401(k), would make staffing the Miami-Dade Police Department problematic.
``They're going to make an already impossible job that much more unattractive,'' he said.
Some civil servants feel as though Scott's proposal vilifies them.
``This whole issue gets to be a cruel myth blaming state employees for the budget deficit,'' said Paul Hunt, a former Coral Gables social worker who retired in November after 17 years. ``These are people who have worked honestly in the community, giving good service, and often taking lower wages now so they could retire with a sense of security.''
Broward Superintendent Jim Notter said the cuts would not only affect the district's 15,500 teachers but cause more hardship for its lowest-paid employees, like bus drivers. ``I believe in a time of economic crisis, it borders on insanity to further take money out of good employees' pockets,'' he said.
In Miami-Dade County, a first-year teacher earns $38,500; a 22-year veteran earns $68,225. For that starting teacher, the 5 percent contribution would be about $163 a month.
Unions have already vowed to fight the proposal, said United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz. ``What Rick Scott is really saying is let them eat cat food.''
Miami Herald staff writer Laura Figueroa contributed to this report, which includes information from members of HeraldSource, part of the Public Insight Network. To learn more about the network or to join, visit MiamiHerald.com/insight.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/06/v-fullstory/2054211/battle-shaping-up-over-pension.html#ixzz1DK4SqAs9
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thousands of teachers may be forced to retire
From the HeatLightning.com
by Nicolette
Mary Ellen Tracy, an educator for over 24 years in Florida, is considering packing up her classroom at the end of this school year and turning in her keys – for good. This isn’t a decision Mrs. Tracy has come to lightly. Despite her years of service, numerous accolades and well-stocked certification, Mary Ellen may be forced to retire early, or else lose nearly half of her predicted retirement income.
In December 2010, Florida Tax Watch (FTW), a private, non-profit research institute with officers holding high-powered positions at AT&T, Verizon, Publix, PBS&J, and Prudential Financial, published a 233-page report containing many recommendations for reigning in the cost of state government. Amongst these recommendations, FTW suggested a number of changes to the Florida Retirement System (FRS) – the pension plan that all state, county, and city employees in Florida are privy to and automatically enrolled in. Interestingly enough, according to Florida Tax Watch’s website, the state of Florida has implemented three-fourths of FTW’s recommendations since the organization began in 1979. In this case, it is easy to see that these changes have a good chance of making it to Governor Rick Scott’s desk for approval in the coming year.
While it is possible that these changes will save the state of Florida a considerable sum of money (FTW estimates a savings of $1 billion annually), the savings come at the expense of so many of the state employees whose work maintains and improves our quality of life here in Florida – police officers, firefighters, and teachers.
Here’s a breakdown of some of Florida Tax Watch’s recommendations and how it can affect our state employees:
Require FRS members to contribute to their retirement plans
Florida is actually one of only a few states that do NOT require state employees to contribute to their retirement plans. This would simply mean that employees would have to pay into their pension plans, similar to private-sector employees paying into a 401K, however, another of FTW’s suggestions would include reducing or even eliminating the amount that the state pays towards the plan, thus potentially changing the pension plan to a state-sponsored savings-account and placing the entire burden of retirement savings on the employee, with little or no contribution from the state.
It is important to note that the national average for teacher pay and pay-raises lags far behind that of other professions which require similar education and training. Florida ranks 28th in the nation for average teacher salary. Additionally, teacher raises are on a set-schedule (Florida teachers get a 30% increase in pay over 10 years) which does not take into account inflation or cost-of-living increases.
Increase the FRS vesting period from six to ten years.
This will not affect veteran employees, but for younger employees, such as myself, this is a huge factor as to whether to stay in the system, or to even join in the first place. This would mean that an employee would not even be able to BEGIN earning/saving for retirement until s/he has completed ten years of service, ultimately reducing the time you have to save for retirement.
Change the calculation for average final compensation to include only base salary, and extend the averaging period from the highest five years, to lifetime average salary.
This brings us back to Mrs. Tracy. For a newer teacher like me, my salary isn’t going to change that much from the year I started to when I plan on retiring. (Which raises another issue of teacher pay-raises that although unrelated to this article, is still entirely frustrating.) However, when Mary Ellen began her teaching career in Miami-Dade, her annual salary was only $17,000. For a veteran teacher, less than five years away from retirement, to suddenly be told her pension wages will be determined from a career-long average, rather than her five highest-earning years, this results in a drastic reduction in payments, and turns her plans for retirement on their head. Must she retire to ensure a pension that is also a living wage? Most likely.
Increase the normal retirement age to 65 or 33 years of service for regular class members (state/county/city employees, teachers) and age 59 or 28 years of service for special risk members (cops, firemen, corrections officers).
Aw, come on! You want us to pay us less to work MORE? Give me a break…
Eliminate the health insurance subsidy for FRS members.
Speaks for itself. Let me just put in that on a personal note, M-DCPS teachers have to put up with a lot of ups and downs and changes of insurance providers, all at the whim of the school board and their idea of what plan best saves them a buck. And these plans aren’t the greatest. So now, after we have potentially provided 33 years of service to Florida’s children, you don’t want to give us a break on health care? Great. Great!
Reform or eliminate the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).
DROP is a program where employees who are eligble to retire, either by age 65 or 30 years of service, technically retire from FRS, but can continue working, while their FRS funds are placed in an interest-earning account. Teachers can work up to eight additional years under this program. DROP participants also receive a health-insurance subsidy (which would be eliminated by the previous item), and an annual cost of living increase (which, under another item would be changed from 3% to be variable based on inflation, with a 3% cap).
These are just a few of the recommendations laid out in FTW’s December report. However, in a speech on November 18, just weeks after his election, Rick Scott said that Florida’s public-sector pension plans were a “ticking time-bomb” and that “Florida has to bring its pension system into line with other states’ by increasing employee contributions.” (Governor-Elect Rick Scott, Speech to Florida Council of 100, November 18, 2010) In December 2010, (the same month FTW published their report), Governor Scott’s “Good Government Transition Team” suggested performing “a comprehensive review of civil-service retirement and healthcare benefits and evaluating the cost-savings to consolidate plans or programs.”
What has Mary Ellen Tracy, and so many other teachers and state employees, worried is this streamlined point of view. It seems that Florida Tax Watch’s recommendations have a green light stamped on them that will inevitably allow them to speed through Florida’s legislature, especially if FTW’s track-record says anything about their chances.
The new legislative session is set to begin on March 8, and if any of these changes do go through, it could potentially spur a wave of early retirement by veteran employees fearful of a reduction in the pension they have worked so hard to earn. It could also potentially result in a draining of young, intelligent, dedicated teachers, taking their careers to other states with better pay and benefits for educators. On the other hand, this issue hopefully could prompt public outcry and hopefully protest in the event that enough people become aware and voice their discontent.
http://theheatlightning.com/2011/01/31/attention-educators-florida-tax-watch-takes-aim-at-the-florida-retirement-system
by Nicolette
Mary Ellen Tracy, an educator for over 24 years in Florida, is considering packing up her classroom at the end of this school year and turning in her keys – for good. This isn’t a decision Mrs. Tracy has come to lightly. Despite her years of service, numerous accolades and well-stocked certification, Mary Ellen may be forced to retire early, or else lose nearly half of her predicted retirement income.
In December 2010, Florida Tax Watch (FTW), a private, non-profit research institute with officers holding high-powered positions at AT&T, Verizon, Publix, PBS&J, and Prudential Financial, published a 233-page report containing many recommendations for reigning in the cost of state government. Amongst these recommendations, FTW suggested a number of changes to the Florida Retirement System (FRS) – the pension plan that all state, county, and city employees in Florida are privy to and automatically enrolled in. Interestingly enough, according to Florida Tax Watch’s website, the state of Florida has implemented three-fourths of FTW’s recommendations since the organization began in 1979. In this case, it is easy to see that these changes have a good chance of making it to Governor Rick Scott’s desk for approval in the coming year.
While it is possible that these changes will save the state of Florida a considerable sum of money (FTW estimates a savings of $1 billion annually), the savings come at the expense of so many of the state employees whose work maintains and improves our quality of life here in Florida – police officers, firefighters, and teachers.
Here’s a breakdown of some of Florida Tax Watch’s recommendations and how it can affect our state employees:
Require FRS members to contribute to their retirement plans
Florida is actually one of only a few states that do NOT require state employees to contribute to their retirement plans. This would simply mean that employees would have to pay into their pension plans, similar to private-sector employees paying into a 401K, however, another of FTW’s suggestions would include reducing or even eliminating the amount that the state pays towards the plan, thus potentially changing the pension plan to a state-sponsored savings-account and placing the entire burden of retirement savings on the employee, with little or no contribution from the state.
It is important to note that the national average for teacher pay and pay-raises lags far behind that of other professions which require similar education and training. Florida ranks 28th in the nation for average teacher salary. Additionally, teacher raises are on a set-schedule (Florida teachers get a 30% increase in pay over 10 years) which does not take into account inflation or cost-of-living increases.
Increase the FRS vesting period from six to ten years.
This will not affect veteran employees, but for younger employees, such as myself, this is a huge factor as to whether to stay in the system, or to even join in the first place. This would mean that an employee would not even be able to BEGIN earning/saving for retirement until s/he has completed ten years of service, ultimately reducing the time you have to save for retirement.
Change the calculation for average final compensation to include only base salary, and extend the averaging period from the highest five years, to lifetime average salary.
This brings us back to Mrs. Tracy. For a newer teacher like me, my salary isn’t going to change that much from the year I started to when I plan on retiring. (Which raises another issue of teacher pay-raises that although unrelated to this article, is still entirely frustrating.) However, when Mary Ellen began her teaching career in Miami-Dade, her annual salary was only $17,000. For a veteran teacher, less than five years away from retirement, to suddenly be told her pension wages will be determined from a career-long average, rather than her five highest-earning years, this results in a drastic reduction in payments, and turns her plans for retirement on their head. Must she retire to ensure a pension that is also a living wage? Most likely.
Increase the normal retirement age to 65 or 33 years of service for regular class members (state/county/city employees, teachers) and age 59 or 28 years of service for special risk members (cops, firemen, corrections officers).
Aw, come on! You want us to pay us less to work MORE? Give me a break…
Eliminate the health insurance subsidy for FRS members.
Speaks for itself. Let me just put in that on a personal note, M-DCPS teachers have to put up with a lot of ups and downs and changes of insurance providers, all at the whim of the school board and their idea of what plan best saves them a buck. And these plans aren’t the greatest. So now, after we have potentially provided 33 years of service to Florida’s children, you don’t want to give us a break on health care? Great. Great!
Reform or eliminate the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).
DROP is a program where employees who are eligble to retire, either by age 65 or 30 years of service, technically retire from FRS, but can continue working, while their FRS funds are placed in an interest-earning account. Teachers can work up to eight additional years under this program. DROP participants also receive a health-insurance subsidy (which would be eliminated by the previous item), and an annual cost of living increase (which, under another item would be changed from 3% to be variable based on inflation, with a 3% cap).
These are just a few of the recommendations laid out in FTW’s December report. However, in a speech on November 18, just weeks after his election, Rick Scott said that Florida’s public-sector pension plans were a “ticking time-bomb” and that “Florida has to bring its pension system into line with other states’ by increasing employee contributions.” (Governor-Elect Rick Scott, Speech to Florida Council of 100, November 18, 2010) In December 2010, (the same month FTW published their report), Governor Scott’s “Good Government Transition Team” suggested performing “a comprehensive review of civil-service retirement and healthcare benefits and evaluating the cost-savings to consolidate plans or programs.”
What has Mary Ellen Tracy, and so many other teachers and state employees, worried is this streamlined point of view. It seems that Florida Tax Watch’s recommendations have a green light stamped on them that will inevitably allow them to speed through Florida’s legislature, especially if FTW’s track-record says anything about their chances.
The new legislative session is set to begin on March 8, and if any of these changes do go through, it could potentially spur a wave of early retirement by veteran employees fearful of a reduction in the pension they have worked so hard to earn. It could also potentially result in a draining of young, intelligent, dedicated teachers, taking their careers to other states with better pay and benefits for educators. On the other hand, this issue hopefully could prompt public outcry and hopefully protest in the event that enough people become aware and voice their discontent.
http://theheatlightning.com/2011/01/31/attention-educators-florida-tax-watch-takes-aim-at-the-florida-retirement-system
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Big cuts to pensions and teachers coming
From the Bradenton Times
by Dennis Maley
The Florida budget faces a $3.6 billion shortfall, raising the likelihood that state programs that have already had their budgets slashed will be cut even further. While lawmakers faced similar challenges last year, they at least had federal stimulus funds to help.
Most of those funds have largely dried up, especially ones related to education, which makes it an obvious target for further reductions. Last year's education budget relied on $1.2 billion in such monies, which are referred to in the budget as non-recurring federal funds.
State employees' pension funds are also seen as a major area where significant cuts might occur. The Florida Retirement System paid more than $5.3 billion to over 300,000 retirees last fiscal year, at an average of just under $1,500 per month, per retiree. The FRS is funded by an investment portfolio of $126 billion. It posted gains of 14 percent last year.
School boards account for just about half of the plans members, while state employees make up about 20 percent. The rest are a mix of county, city, special district and state college employees.
In terms of cuts, minimum retirement ages, annual accrual rates and qualification for higher special-risk pensions like those given to firefighting and law enforcement employees have been mentioned. It is possible that the state could do away with defined-benefit pensions for new employees and switch to 401(k) plans like most of the private sector, which would not carry any liability for the state and other governments when workers retire.
The Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, which allows qualified employees to "retire" while continuing to work for up to five years (8 for teachers), while their monthly pension checks are deposited in escrow at 6.5 percent interest, might also be done away with in order to fill budgetary holes.
http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2011/02/01/state_government/state_eyes_big_cuts_in_pensions_and_education_as_budget_session_approaches/
by Dennis Maley
The Florida budget faces a $3.6 billion shortfall, raising the likelihood that state programs that have already had their budgets slashed will be cut even further. While lawmakers faced similar challenges last year, they at least had federal stimulus funds to help.
Most of those funds have largely dried up, especially ones related to education, which makes it an obvious target for further reductions. Last year's education budget relied on $1.2 billion in such monies, which are referred to in the budget as non-recurring federal funds.
State employees' pension funds are also seen as a major area where significant cuts might occur. The Florida Retirement System paid more than $5.3 billion to over 300,000 retirees last fiscal year, at an average of just under $1,500 per month, per retiree. The FRS is funded by an investment portfolio of $126 billion. It posted gains of 14 percent last year.
School boards account for just about half of the plans members, while state employees make up about 20 percent. The rest are a mix of county, city, special district and state college employees.
In terms of cuts, minimum retirement ages, annual accrual rates and qualification for higher special-risk pensions like those given to firefighting and law enforcement employees have been mentioned. It is possible that the state could do away with defined-benefit pensions for new employees and switch to 401(k) plans like most of the private sector, which would not carry any liability for the state and other governments when workers retire.
The Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, which allows qualified employees to "retire" while continuing to work for up to five years (8 for teachers), while their monthly pension checks are deposited in escrow at 6.5 percent interest, might also be done away with in order to fill budgetary holes.
http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2011/02/01/state_government/state_eyes_big_cuts_in_pensions_and_education_as_budget_session_approaches/
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Are teachers pensions next to go?
From Education Week
By Anthony Cody
I have tried, in recent months, to strike a balance between hope and concern about where we seem to be headed in education. Today I am going to sound an alarm bell. The pensions of teachers and other public employees are in jeopardy because a wealthy elite have decided they have better things to do with our money.
On Wednesday, listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR, I heard an expert on the auto industry, Paul Ingrassia, talk happily about the "tough love" the Obama administration had shown for auto workers. Using the device of bankruptcy to break contractual obligations to their employees, the US car makers have reduced their labor costs from 30% of the cost of a car to just 6%. Now, even though they are selling fewer cars, the car makers are raking in the billions again.
Ingrassia explained it this way:
So if we can, you know, at least address the problems of Detroit with promises, the promise of improvement, or even a cure, why can't we apply the same tough-love methods to the federal budget deficit and the whole entitlement structure that we have in this country that has helped produce that deficit, and also to the public employee pension plans that are threatening to bankrupt many of our states? Those are huge problems that will swamp this country if they're not addressed.
There was a very interesting op-ed piece a couple of days ago in The Wall Street Journal by a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania suggesting that Congress should pass a law that allows states to declare bankruptcy. And, you know, it's not a bad thought. And there's no way that GM and Chrysler would have made it through this restructuring without the ability to renounce contracts and, you know, to renounce their financial obligations that they have accumulated over the years that they could not afford to meet.
And the shoe dropped just a day later, when the New York Times reported that "Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers."
The New York Times story indicates that there is not yet legislation for this purpose, and that there are concerns that if states declare bankruptcy, holders of state bonds might suffer. This would create instability in financial markets - which is of course intolerable to the bankers who are apparently running America. But apparently robbing teachers of our pensions is quite acceptable - so the clever lawyers are hard at work to come up with a scheme that will allow the states to default on their obligations to pensions, while preserving their obligations to bondholders.
It is interesting to note Ingrassia's use of the phrase "tough love." In Michelle Rhee's plan to fix our supposedly broken schools, she says we must "Ensure that the government exercises discipline in pension and benefit programs." So there must be tough love and discipline - we are being treated as if we were children bingeing on ice cream.
We are not children. We are adults who have chosen to teach, a not very well-paid profession. And those of us who have chosen to make it a career look forward to the day when we can cease grading papers and calling parents, and enjoy a few years of hard-earned rest before we go off to the teacher's lounge in the sky. Our pensions are a form of deferred compensation. That money has already been earned, and the obligation to us is very real.
This is one more step towards the destruction of our profession. We need people to choose teaching as a career because it is complex work that deepens year after year. The first or second year intern may have good test scores, but they have a great deal to learn - as most of them will tell you. But when we make everything about test scores, and base everything - pay, hiring, evaluations - on these scores, we have lost the foundation for our profession, and any intern with a repertoire of test prep techniques is as "effective" as a seasoned veteran. This crass definition of effectiveness allows the embrace of policies that devalue experience and seniority, and things like pensions that promote career longevity, in favor of cost-cutting measures. We need a profession that creates stability in our schools, not the constant churn that makes the veteran teacher a rarity, and robs us of the dynamic mix that results when novices and veterans collaborate together to learn how innovative practices can meld with traditional ones.
But take careful note, when Mr. Ingrassia talks about the "entitlement structure we have in this country," these are code words for Social Security, the other target in the sights of the billionaires. So we are in good company. It is not just public employees that stand to lose our pensions - it is every person who does not have an independent means of supporting themselves when they retire. And this is both the greatest danger, and our greatest hope. We need to help our fellow Americans understand - they are coming for ALL of our pensions. Teachers and other public employees are taking some big hits, but the biggest pot of gold of all is Social Security, and that will affect every wage earner in the nation. We need some good old fashioned solidarity. And we need to get ourselves into the streets for some old fashioned protests. I am headed to Washington, DC, this summer, and it looks like I have some company.
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/01/teachers_beware_they_are_comin.html
By Anthony Cody
I have tried, in recent months, to strike a balance between hope and concern about where we seem to be headed in education. Today I am going to sound an alarm bell. The pensions of teachers and other public employees are in jeopardy because a wealthy elite have decided they have better things to do with our money.
On Wednesday, listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR, I heard an expert on the auto industry, Paul Ingrassia, talk happily about the "tough love" the Obama administration had shown for auto workers. Using the device of bankruptcy to break contractual obligations to their employees, the US car makers have reduced their labor costs from 30% of the cost of a car to just 6%. Now, even though they are selling fewer cars, the car makers are raking in the billions again.
Ingrassia explained it this way:
So if we can, you know, at least address the problems of Detroit with promises, the promise of improvement, or even a cure, why can't we apply the same tough-love methods to the federal budget deficit and the whole entitlement structure that we have in this country that has helped produce that deficit, and also to the public employee pension plans that are threatening to bankrupt many of our states? Those are huge problems that will swamp this country if they're not addressed.
There was a very interesting op-ed piece a couple of days ago in The Wall Street Journal by a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania suggesting that Congress should pass a law that allows states to declare bankruptcy. And, you know, it's not a bad thought. And there's no way that GM and Chrysler would have made it through this restructuring without the ability to renounce contracts and, you know, to renounce their financial obligations that they have accumulated over the years that they could not afford to meet.
And the shoe dropped just a day later, when the New York Times reported that "Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers."
The New York Times story indicates that there is not yet legislation for this purpose, and that there are concerns that if states declare bankruptcy, holders of state bonds might suffer. This would create instability in financial markets - which is of course intolerable to the bankers who are apparently running America. But apparently robbing teachers of our pensions is quite acceptable - so the clever lawyers are hard at work to come up with a scheme that will allow the states to default on their obligations to pensions, while preserving their obligations to bondholders.
It is interesting to note Ingrassia's use of the phrase "tough love." In Michelle Rhee's plan to fix our supposedly broken schools, she says we must "Ensure that the government exercises discipline in pension and benefit programs." So there must be tough love and discipline - we are being treated as if we were children bingeing on ice cream.
We are not children. We are adults who have chosen to teach, a not very well-paid profession. And those of us who have chosen to make it a career look forward to the day when we can cease grading papers and calling parents, and enjoy a few years of hard-earned rest before we go off to the teacher's lounge in the sky. Our pensions are a form of deferred compensation. That money has already been earned, and the obligation to us is very real.
This is one more step towards the destruction of our profession. We need people to choose teaching as a career because it is complex work that deepens year after year. The first or second year intern may have good test scores, but they have a great deal to learn - as most of them will tell you. But when we make everything about test scores, and base everything - pay, hiring, evaluations - on these scores, we have lost the foundation for our profession, and any intern with a repertoire of test prep techniques is as "effective" as a seasoned veteran. This crass definition of effectiveness allows the embrace of policies that devalue experience and seniority, and things like pensions that promote career longevity, in favor of cost-cutting measures. We need a profession that creates stability in our schools, not the constant churn that makes the veteran teacher a rarity, and robs us of the dynamic mix that results when novices and veterans collaborate together to learn how innovative practices can meld with traditional ones.
But take careful note, when Mr. Ingrassia talks about the "entitlement structure we have in this country," these are code words for Social Security, the other target in the sights of the billionaires. So we are in good company. It is not just public employees that stand to lose our pensions - it is every person who does not have an independent means of supporting themselves when they retire. And this is both the greatest danger, and our greatest hope. We need to help our fellow Americans understand - they are coming for ALL of our pensions. Teachers and other public employees are taking some big hits, but the biggest pot of gold of all is Social Security, and that will affect every wage earner in the nation. We need some good old fashioned solidarity. And we need to get ourselves into the streets for some old fashioned protests. I am headed to Washington, DC, this summer, and it looks like I have some company.
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/01/teachers_beware_they_are_comin.html
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