Spring Luncheon

Wonderful Spring Function.

President’s Report Spring Luncheon 2010
Greetings, this has been a very active year for ARTC. We’ve had a very good turnout for our Lobby Day. Well over a hundred retired teachers showed up in Room 1A in the Legislative Office Building and then later at the Legislative Luncheon in the Capitol. Many legislators joined us for lunch and we were able to get our message across about the need for Connecticut to continue to support the TRB’s health insurance program. We were also able to convince most that section #5 of a new dental insurance bill would have a negative effect on retired teachers. We were successful in bringing about Bill #393’s defeat and saved you from added costs to your dental treatment. I am tired of the state trying to solve their budgetary problems on the backs of those least able to handle it. When we were teaching the towns kept our salaries low in bad times, but in good times they didn’t improve our conditions. The same is with the state. It took us years for the state to finally secure our pensions and not until we backed them against the wall. Now they are playing games with our health insurance. ARTC must continue to be vigilant to protect us from these and other inroads.
We are constantly being told that teachers and state employees because of their benefits make more than those in the private sector and that the loss of Social Security benefits really has little effect on our incomes. This is just not so!
Let me share recent research from the National Institute on Retirement Security and the Center for State and Local Government Excellence titled, "Out of Balance? Comparing Public and Private Sector Compensation Over 20 Years."

According to this report, employees of state and local government earn an average of 11% and 12% less, respectively, than comparable private sector employees. An evaluation spanning two decades shows the pay gap between public and private sector employees has widened in recent years. This study provides an original analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (To see the report, click on http://www.nirsonline.org/.)

 Jobs in the public sector typically require more education than private sector positions. Thus, state and local employees are twice as likely to hold a college degree or higher as compared to private sector employees. Only 23% of private sector employees have completed college as compared to about 48% in the public sector.
 Wages and salaries of state and local employees are lower than those for private sector employees with comparable earnings determinants such as education and work experience. State workers typically earn 11% less and local workers 12% less.
 During the last 15 years, the pay gap has grown - earnings for state and local workers have generally declined relative to comparable private sector employees.
 Benefits make up a slightly larger share of compensation for the state and local sector. But even after accounting for the value of retirement, healthcare, and other benefits, state and local employees earn less than private sector counterparts. On average, total compensation is 6.8% lower for state employees and 7.4% lower for local employees than for comparable private sector employees.
ARTC sent two separate delegations to Washington, our executive director, Wayne Woodtke, and myself to one in which we met up with our NRTA counterparts and we discussed several issues that affect seniors, especially health insurance. We also pushed our agenda for changes in Social Security. The following week in early March we sent Frank Cooper and Rhoda Dix to a Social Security summit. They reported back to us that although a majority of Congressmen have signed on to the bill to eliminate the SS Offsets most have signed on believing that the SS Fairness Act would never come out of committee. We are not giving up the fight to eliminate this highly prejudicial provision.
This year we added a full benefits package from AMBA to your membership. It includes long term care, identity theft protection, discounts on computers and supplies, discount hotels, flowers, books, travel and more.
Our latest move is to create ARTC affiliates in Florida which is not SS offset state. When Congress realizes that retired teachers from CT and the other 14 states are part of their constituency we might finally get them to act. The response from our Floridian members has been wonderful, and I predict that before the end of the year we will have two new flourishing affiliates
A short while ago I asked the membership to tell me how they volunteer their time. Elizabeth (Betty) Waters wrote that she is a retired teacher from Windsor, CT where she taught Mathematics and Gifted Ed for 31 years. She retired in 2001 and moved to Westerly RI. She is a lifetime member of ARTC.

She writes upon retiring she began to volunteer at the Jonnycake Center of Westerly, The Jonnycake Center is a social service agency which helps people to become self-sustaining members of the community in a variety of ways. She serves in many capacities - Member of the Board of Directors, Fundraising, Grant Writing (now advisor),among others. They have a social service department which advises clients of the places where services are available, qualifies them for food, clothing, household items, financial assistance and education grants. (RI does not have town social services departments as in CT so Jonnycake Center is the place of first resource for people in crisis.)

In addition to the Jonnycake Center, which is her first love, She has volunteered 7 years as an AARP Tax Preparer,sheI works with the Westerly College Club of which she is a member to raise scholarship funds and she is a member of the "Helping Hands" committee of her church.
Many of the people she volunteers with are retired educators. Some days she wonders how she had time to work. I would not be surprised if many of you here today have similar stories. Please share them with us and we will share them with the media. This would give us greater name recognition.
On another note it would be remiss of me to forget to congratulate AARP’s new president Lee Hammond, a former Maryland Retired Teachers Association State President. He will serve as AARP’s lead volunteer until 2012. As AARP president, Hammond will articulate the positions and views of AARP; provide leadership; and foster creativity and enthusiasm in AARP’s volunteers, members, and staff. Additionally, he will represent AARP and AARP/NRTA members at key national and international meetings and events.
I have started a blog with new inserts weekly to keep you better informed on ARTC issues. Finally we need your email address. Many things happen both nationally and in Connecticut that warrants our reaching out to you quickly. Please help us out by giving us your email address. A form will be passed out for you to fill in. Thank you, and remember ARTC’s primary concern is you our retired teachers.