RFArea Newsletter April 2014

 

RFArea 

Wisconsin Retired Educators' Association

Newsletter               

Volume 11     Number 2     April 2014

From Marylin

By President Marylin Plansky

     May 1st is just around the corner, and we're all looking forward to the end of the five-year core fund cycle and increases for everyone's retirement payments.  The wait for this is possibly the only thing seemingly longer than the end of our miserable winter.  Better days are ahead.  The last message I read stated that the core fund increase will be +4.7%, and the variable will be +25%.  You can expect to hear from WRS in April.
     WREA will hold district meetings around the state the first full week in May.  The District III session is on May 6th at a restaurant near Stratford.  Ethel Johnson and I have attended these for years, and we generally elect to go to the District I meeting, which is usually held in Rice Lake.  I plan to go again this year and would welcome company.
     At our January board meeting, a motion passed to take up a collection specifically for the WREA Foundation.  We'll do this at our April meeting.  The Foundation uses donations to provide student scholarships, teacher grants, money for innovative school programs, and support for community outreach.  Checks can be made out to RFArea or WREA Foundation.
     Our April 16th meeting is at 10:30 in the West Wind Room.  Carol Ballerstein and Carol Subera, our District III Directors, will present the program.  I am hopeful that better weather and decent roads will mean we will have good attendance.
     Our annual scholarship bake sale is at the First National bank in River Falls on April 17th.  Postcards have been sent to Royal Neighbors and RFArea members.  We are grateful to Gene and Liz Kreibich for soliciting matching funds from Royal Neighbors each year.  This is the fourth year this has been done, and the proceeds have made a huge difference in our scholarship fund.
     On June 18th our meeting will be a potluck picnic at Hoffman Park in River Falls.  We are planning to repeat something we did a few years ago when people brought an heirloo to "Show and Tell."  Members enjoyed this and requested a repeat, so we listened.  Think about what you can bring to this fund and interesting meeting.

Minutes for February 2014

By Ethel Johnson, Secretary

     The last general meeting was held 2/19/14 at the West Wind Restaurant.  President Marylin Plansky called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m.
     The secretary's minutes were accepted as printed in the newsletter.
     The treasurer's report was examined and filled for audit.  Bernie Brohaugh, treasurer, passed out volunteer buttons.
     Larry Harred gave the Legislative report.  He told about Senate Bill 286 that would create problems if passed.
     Brian Copp gave the Program report.
     The next meeting will feature two district representatives who will fill us in on what is happening at the state level and answer questions.  A potluck at Hoffman Park will be held in June.
     Evelyn Klein, Education Issues chair, gave a very comprehensive report on present day problems in schools.  Her report centered on student performance, readiness for college, charter schools, discipline problems, smaller class sizes, use of technology in education, etc.
     Marylin Plansky gave the Scholarship report as Naomi Brandt was absent.  The Board has asked that information be added to certificates to recipiets of scholarships.  A portion of the money in the scholarship fund was donated in memory of deceased members of our organization.
     It was announced that the Nominating Committee will meet after the next Board Meeting, March 31.
     Old Business:  The telephone tree has been retired; however, anyone who would like a reminder call should let Jane Harred know.
     Laura Zlogar offeredto set up a website on Google.  This will be a nice addition to our group.
     Evelyn Klein suggested one of our programs could be a panel dealing with educational issues.
     Marylin Plansky reported she had begun work on the Bake Sale.
     Announcements of upcoming events in the next couple of weeks were made.
     Following adjournment and lunch, a program focusing on country school experiences was presented by Brian Copp, Ethel Johnson, Eileen Gulbranson, and Bernie Brohaugh.

Highlights of New Education Bills

From an article by Erin Richards in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 22 March 2014

     Several bills pertaining to education have recently been passed by the state legislature and will likely be signed into law.
     (1) The one bill considered the most significant, the "accountability" bill, seems, however, to be somewhat nullified by another bill relating to the rating of schools and teachers.  The first bill requires all publicly funded schools to use the same report-card rating system.  Even charter schools that get taxpayer support must use the same 0-100 scale that all public schools are required to use.
    (2)  But the other bill allows some charter schools to apply for permission from the state's Department of Public Instruction to substitute another system.  Precisely what these schools are and where they are is not revealed in the Journal/Sentinel report on the legislation.
     (3)  A bill of questionable rectitude requires the DPI to accept the credentials of all principals licensed out of state and carrying three years of experience who apply to work at charter schools in the state in spite of their being otherwise unqualified in Wisconsin.
     (4)  New private schools in Racine and Milwaukee will have to operate one year while undergoing rigorous financial reviews before they can get public funds.  This bill follows in the wake of a scam that bilked the state out of $200,000.
     (5)  Finally, the 180-day requirement has been replaced by a minimal hour requirement.  Schools will be able to make up for lost days by adding on hours to daily schedules.  The minimum varies from one level of classes to another, K through 12.
     One bill that did not pass was the attempt to derail implementation of Common Core State Standards, an initiative of Tea Partiers.

The Cuts Are Over.  What May Lie Ahead?

By Bernie Brohaugh 

     Tommy Thompson found out many years ago that even a governor cannot rob a pension fund owned by those it serves--despite their being working or retired public employees.  His flirtation with thievery, which dost the state of Wisconsin 210 million dollars, demonstrates that we probably have less to fear from unscrupulous Wisconsin  politicians than from threats originating elsewhere--Wall Street and others dens of financial skullduggery, for example.
     Where Thompson failed, certain financial giants, in 2008, succeeded, causing a far greater loss to Wisconsin pensioners than Thompson's pilfering would have done had it not been thwarted.  And sooner or later, similar losses may happen again.
     When the banks and the other financial insitutions responsible for the crash in 2008 learned that many of them were too big to be allowed to fail and could depend on taxpayers to rescue them, they no doubt realized they had a precedent they could use again.  Besides that, their minions in Congress did far too little to prevent a recurrence of the kinds of abuses that brought on the collapse of 2008.  The days may be at hand when our monthly checks will never be much larger than they are now.  Were it not for the floor beneath which our distributions cannot legally go, we could be in greater danger still.  The question is, how reliable is that floor?
      Let us hope my bleak misgivings are wrong.  In any case, we are far better off than the hapless municipal employees of Detroit who lost a substantial part of the distributions they had been promised years ago.  A few will be able to negotiate a loss of about 25% while firemen and policemen will lose 10%.  The money that has been confiscated by the city will be used to help pay off debts to banks which craftily recommended financial schemes that experts say were devised to benefit the banks rather than the city.  The chairwoman of a retirees' committee is quoted ina story in the February 1 edition of the Washington Spectator ("Shock in Detroit:  Workers Lose in Bankruptcy Court" by Lou DuBose):  "Our state constitution says that our pensions cannot be diminished.  We put money into those pension funds when we were working.  and now we're told that the city needs moey.  Well, a lot of years we did away with pay raises to help the city.  And if we hadn't done away with pay raises, we would have higher pensions.  So we helped the city.  We are at a point where we need the city to help us.  We're not asking for a handout.  This is something we worked for."  Meanwhile, some of the wealthiest people in Detroit are delinquent on their taxes, and city officials are doing nothing about it.
     Detroit's pension disaster is just one one of the many that are either happening or about to happen.  Among the cities with serious problems are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Omaha, and Portland.  States on the troubled list include, first and foremost, Illinois, which, to fulfill its obligations completely, would have to assess each taxpayer $20,000 beyond the amounts currently being paid in.  Other states in big trouble are Connecticut, Kentucky, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Alaska.
     How can these funding calamities have happened when states like Wisconsin and New York can boast that their anticipated liabilities are 100% covered?  Possibly it's just luck.  No doubt it has a lot to do with good management.  But I suspect it has most to do with ownership.  When pension funds are virtually beyond the reach of devious and/or incompetent politicians, as they are in Wisconsin and New York, they are not accessible for use in any capacity except that for which they were--and are--intended:  pensions for the folks who sustained them with their hard work.  Tommy Thompson found that out the hard way.   Too bad this lesson cannot be repeated in Detroit and the other beleaguered locales across the country.