Teacher protests not enough to stop bill limiting KEA’s power over retirement system

FRANKFORT - A raucous crowd of Kentucky teachers who skipped school to show their disdain for a bill that would alter how members of the Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees are selected was not enough to deter a panel of House lawmakers from approving the bill Thursday on a party-line vote.

House Bill 525 would change the nominating process for board member, moving the nominations away from the Kentucky Education Association and spreading them among eight eduction-related professional groups.

“I know of no other board, created by statute, that has its membership controlled almost entirely by one private organization,” Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, told the House State Government Committee. “Instead, we are gradually expanding the membership of this critically important board.”

... Upchurch began his speech by apologizing to parents and students in eight school districts that canceled classes because of “sick-outs” in protest of his bill. He was met with a chorus of boos and jeers from the assembled crowd. One person even hissed.

The board currently consists of 11 members, seven of whom are elected by members of TRS from a group of nominees selected by KEA. The newest version of the bill, which was introduced to the public Thursday morning, would increase the number of members on the board to 13, eight of whom would be elected by members of TRS from nominations put forward by a variety of education groups.

... Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, got his fair share of thumbs down as he grilled Upchurch about the bill and denounced the sick-out in Jefferson County, calling it “wildly irresponsible.”

Yet KEA still represents only about 30 percent of the members of TRS, a figure Republicans pounced on when questioning why they have authority over the full nominating process.

The teachers are whining about FUTURE earnings from pensions. Somehow, they believe that when they signed on, they got some kind of lifetime agreement on the pensions. BTW, they did a sick out (with apparent impunity) and went to Frankfort to protest. They’ve done this several times. Not that it really matters if they show up or not, with KY usually propped up by MS, AK and WV near the bottom in educational achievement.

I myself saw the 401k contribution from my employer drop during and after the last recession. In the private sector, if you don’t like it, and you think that you can do better, leave. Many did. That is basically how America works, or, anyway, is supposed to work.

There was a time when government employment paid less than the private sector, but at least you got a good pension. This is definitely no longer true. In KY (as in many states), the biggest employer in most of the counties is...government. And it pays rather well.

Here is the situation in a nutshell;

1. Ky has extremely generous pensions.
2. Bad financial mistakes were made over several Dem administrations, by Dems.
3. KY is really in a small scale version of Illinois’ situation, with much less financial resource.
4. The teachers WILL have to convert to a 401(k).

Public school teachers’ unions destroyed NJ financially; they (and other government workers) are our new middle upper class, with salaries AND benefits better than most private sector jobs - including many white-collar jobs that require degrees/certification. Coupled with the “employment for life” situation after a couple of years, it is a formula for disaster; the government worker caste crushes and chases out our middle class - and the employers that provide jobs.

Amazon was a lost opportunity for NY, we’ve already lost Mercedes and are losing Honeywell now in further blows to our middle and upper classes. These salary levels aren’t being replaced here; if you lose one of these jobs, there is a good chance you’ll lose your home. Young people refuse to sign up for this, and either flee or remain without starting families/buying homes.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.