October 21, 2010
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
First, thank you, LT retirees, for
your (non-LT) e-mail addresses. It was
delightful and nostalgic to reconnect with many of you. Moreover, thank you for allowing me to share
my solicitude about the state pension crisis as well. I believe that the candidates we vote into
office are crucial.
Thus, I have taken the initiative to
mitigate my own anxiety and to unite my hope with yours. With your permission, I will send you my
thoughts and information about this so-called pension crisis. Some of you might receive duplicate
communications from IEA, WLSU, IRTA, or other organizations. In this case, perhaps repetition will help expedite
and inspire the need for our action.
Please send me your comments and
questions, and please talk to other teachers and friends as well. As teachers, you are communicative experts. You
will be surprised at how many teachers and friends are indifferent or
unaware of this manufactured pension crisis.
I hope that you will write
letters to your state legislators. I
have enclosed a copy of the letter I sent to one of our senators a few weeks
ago that expresses both my bafflement and wishful thinking. Finally, please join
IRTA/WLSU. “You do not have to be a teacher or retired to become a member.”
Mea culpa…
Glen Brown
Dear Senator Kirk W. Dillard,
Do your parents or grandparents live
with the assurance of a pension? I
believe that you would not steal that promise from them if they did. I also believe that you understand the
importance of trust among individuals and the pension systems into which they
have elected to participate. However, there
are some ugly facts I would like to call to your attention.
I do not understand why the state of
Illinois has underfunded its contribution to The Teachers’ Retirement System
for decades and has used this money as if it were its own private savings
account.
I do not understand why our elected
officials have not competently and responsibly managed the retirement systems
to which they were entrusted but fund other special-interest and on-going
programs and services instead.
I do not understand how our
past-and-present state officials have failed to generate enough revenue to meet
the state’s fiscal obligations; nor do I understand how “pension borrowing” and
“pension holidays” are moral and legal options, especially for retiring teachers who believed they would have a
promised and sound financial future.
Is it true that “the level of
[teacher] benefits are modest, comparable to national averages of public
employee retirement systems…? The cost of benefits is not only in line with
other states, it’s less than the private sector” (Anders Lindall, American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31).
Furthermore, I do not understand how
public officials running for Illinois office can make promises that they do not keep once elected. I do not
understand how many of our public officials in both the House and Senate, and
who have never taught in a school, can pass a bill for a Two-Tier Pension
System without the input of Illinois educational leaders and discussion of
the absurd, inevitable, and adverse effects it will have on Illinois students
and teachers alike.
“The $80 billion of debt the state
owes for pension benefits already earned remains unchanged by this bill” (Steve
Preckwinkle, The State Journal-Register, April 4, 2010). Lastly, I do not understand why the teachers’
pension is being blamed for years of state fiscal irresponsibility,
incompetence, and corruption.
I taught in public schools for
35 years. My pension is all I have to
live on now. Like other teachers, I
never missed a contribution to my state retirement plan. I never received any bonuses either, and my
school district never matched my contributions to my 403b. Furthermore, most teachers receive little or no Social Security. “Illinois taxpayers save more than $700 million per year by not paying Social
Security payroll taxes for 78 percent of all active employees in the five
state-managed plans, including all public-school teachers” (Preckwinkle).
I want to believe in a just system, in
promises to keep, and in the integrity of our lawmakers. I want to believe that teacher retirees and
the state of Illinois have “an enforceable contractual relationship” (Article
XIII, Section 5, The Constitution of the State of Illinois).
I want to believe that there will be
no attempt to pass a “law impairing the obligations of contracts” (Article I,
Section 16, The Constitution of the State of Illinois); I want to believe that Illinois cannot pass any law “impairing the obligations of contracts” (Article I, Section 10, The Constitution of the United States of
America).
I want to believe that the state of
Illinois will make an ethical decision to create the needed revenue and meet
its obligations without jeopardizing the futures of thousands of teachers. I want to believe that the elected officials
of Illinois will be competent, responsible, honorable, intrepid and just.
Sincerely,
Glen Brown
P.S.
Dear Teachers:
Please forward all or any part of this e-mail to other teachers and friends. If you do not want to receive subsequent
e-mail messages, please notify me. Thank you so much.
This e-mail has 77 recipients.
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