Earlier this month, lawmakerspassed and Gov. Tom Wolfsigned a new pension law.

For PSEA-Retired members, thereare three important points to remem-ber about the law.

One, there are no changes to pen-sions for retired or active members.

Two, it doesn’t threaten the securi-ty of the Public School Employees’Retirement System.

Three, strong member advocacyand having a pro-public educationgovernor pays huge dividends.

Thanks in large part to retired andactive members’ advocacy, and thegovernor’s leadership, the new lawreflects PSEA’s pension principles: nonegative effects for current employ-ees; protect the defined benefit pen-sion system; and protect the retire-ment security of future, current, andretired PSEA members.

This comes a long way from pen-sion proposals debated over the pastfour and a half years. Some would

have put new employees entirely intoa 401(k)-type plan, threatening boththe employees’ future retirementsecurity, and the PSERS’ solvency.

PSEA President Jerry Oleksiaksaid the Association has opposedchanges to the current pension sys-tem, but noted that the new law close-

ly matches PSEA’s pension princi-ples.

For that he credited active andretired PSEA members for theirrelentless advocacy over the past fourand a half years – 1 million emails,letters, and phones calls to legislators.

Oleksiak also thanked Wolf for therole he played in standing up againstbad pension proposals.

“This new law certainly isn’t per-fect, but one thing is clear, it does notinclude the harmful provisions anddeep benefit cuts that were in previ-ous bills,’’ Oleksiak said. “Why?Because of the advocacy of our activeand retired members, and the work ofGov. Tom Wolf.’’

Positives for Act 120 employees

Not only does the law include nonegative changes for active employ-ees, there are two positive aspects formembers hired after June 30, 2011:

• Upside risk sharing. If PSERS’investment returns exceed targets,these employees will play less into

their retirement. This will balance outthe current downside risk sharing.

• Option four withdrawal.Employees will have the ability towithdraw what they paid into theirretirement in one lump -sum uponretirement.

Cuts minimized for new employees

While the new law will meanchanges for employees hired afterJune 30, 2019, previous proposalswould have cut their retirement bene-fits by as much as 70 percent. Theywill now see as little as a 9 to 11 per-cent benefit reduction, dependingwhich plan they select.

Vol. 24 No. 4 Official publication of PSEA Summer 2017

Members, Wolf bring pension law a long way

(continued on Page 2)

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They will have three retirementoptions:

• A traditional defined benefit planwith a 1.25 percent multiplier, alongwith a 5 percent 401(k)-type account.This would result in a 9 to 11 percentreduction in future benefits. This is

the default option. If new employeesdon’t select a plan, they will beenrolled in this one automatically.

• Another defined benefit planwith a 1 percent multiplier and a 5percent 401(k)-type account withlower personal and employee contri-

bution rates. This would result in a 21to 24 percent cut in future benefits.

• A full 401(k)-type account withhigher employee contributions. Thiswould mean a future benefits’ cut of44 to 49 percent.

Members, Wolf bring pension law a long way(continued from Page 1)

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National issues worry retireesThe President’s Message by Mary Moran

President, PSEA-Retired

Iam hoping that some if not all ofthese pressing issues will have beenpositively resolved by the time this

reaches you. They are matters of greatconcern to retirees and to public edu-cators.

To begin with, the repeal andreplacement of the Affordable CareAct has serious consequences formany Pennsylvanians.

The Pennsylvania Budget andPolicy Center, a nonpar-tisan policy researchorganization, warns that“Pennsylvania’s ruralcommunities alreadyface a lot of challenges,and policymakers inWashington, D.C.,shouldn’t make lifeharder for people wholive there.’’

The AmericanHealth Care Act, passedby the U.S. House,would effectively endthe Affordable CareAct’s Medicaid expan-sion, under which morethan 85,000 ruralPennsylvanians havegained coverage.

The Medicaid expan-sion has also increasedaccess to substance abusetreatment at a time whenmany of Pennsylvania’srural communities havebeen ravaged by the opioid crisis. Inaddition, the bill also would dramati-cally cut and radically restructure theentire Medicaid program through a percapita cap or block grant, putting aver-age seniors, people with disabilities,and families with children at riskacross the state.

“Although Trumpcare has passed

the House, it still must be consideredby the Senate. As the Senate considerschanges to our health care system, it istime for the majority to get serious,end their obsession with repealing theAffordable Care Act, and work in abipartisan way to keep what is work-ing and fix what is not,’’ said U.S.Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

Betsy DeVos, U.S. education secre-tary, continues to demonstrate her

unsuitability for her position. Herlack of knowledge has been evident inher mischaracterizing historicallyblack colleges and universities as“pioneers of school choice.’’ She com-pares school choice with choosing anUber over a taxi.

One of her recent actions was torevoke a federal policy barring collec-

tors of student debt from charginghigh fees on past-due loans. She alsoproposed a $9.2 billion cut to educa-tion.

Of particular concern to seniors areproperty tax “reform” proposals in ourstate. A recent communication fromthe Pennsylvania School BoardsAssociation points out some seriousflaws in the proposals.

“While described as a way to pro-tect senior citizens andlow-income familiesfrom losing theirhomes, the bill has fargreater implications,’’PSBA said. “In truth,the issue is being intro-duced in many states byowners of large apart-ment complexes and‘big box’ commercialproperties who believethat they are over-assessed. They want tocreate a loopholeenabling them to moreeasily and successfullychallenge their assess-ments and pay signifi-cantly lower propertytaxes.”

This could limit aschool district’s abilityto appeal assessmentsand will have fundingconsequences, especial-ly in urban districts.

We must pay close attention toany alerts coming from PSEA; theGovernment Relations Division moni-tors all pending legislation and willissue timely advice and warnings tomembers.

Feel free to contact me with anycomments and concerns at mary-math@ptd.net.

PSEA-Retired raffled gift baskets at the spring House of Delegates toraise money to donate to the NEA Jack Kinnaman Fund. Kinnaman wasknown for portraying the “Cat in the Hat’’ at the NEA RepresentativeAssembly each summer. Student NEA members who need financial helpfor college are granted scholarships in his name.

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What am I willing to fight for?PACE Report by Anne Loeffler, PSEA-Retired PACE director

Are you a member of theDemocratic Party, theRepublican Party, a member

of third parties, or unaffiliated? Doyou vote? Do you like politics? Isthere anyone or anything in life thatyou care for?

When asked questions like these,we usually give an answer. I’ve beenasking myself the question, “What isso important that am I willing to fightto keep? Would I fight formy family? Absolutely!

What about my job?No, I’m retired; however, Iwould fight for the right ofchildren to learn in free,well-funded publicschools. Endanger myretirement security, andI’m ready to put on myboxing gloves. Pension,Social Security, Medicare:My savings are how I sup-port my life with my hus-band and live with self-respect and dignity.

Would I fight for the right to vote?Yes, and since I value voting as a rightand a privilege, I vote every election.With pride, I claim to be a supervoter. What about my party of affilia-tion? Hmmm.

Now we are getting to the reasonthat I began to question myself. As aPACE director, I often hear that PSEAonly recommends Democratic candi-dates. I know that is wrong. I havepersonally delivered checks to bothRepublicans and Democrats.

As a member of various PACEteams, I have interviewed and recom-mended in a bipartisan manner. Myparty affiliation has never influencedmy decisions. I have always looked atthe candidate’s positions on the things

that I believe are important.My recommendations have always

come from the answers given on thePACE questionnaire, the interview,and my understanding of the perform-ance of the candidate’s votes or whatthey have done in their life.

I have never understood why thecandidate’s party or my party shouldmake a difference. If the personbelieves in quality public school edu-

cation for all children, if they willvote for better funding, I probablywould recommend them.

If they believe in protecting fami-lies and especially our most vulnera-ble citizens, they’re my kind of per-son. If they will work to strengthenthe security of seniors and our fellowPennsylvanians, they’ll likely have myvote.

A problem arises when candidatesrefuse to interview with PSEA-PACE.Most often, it is our Republican can-didates who would rather go withoutour support than be tainted by our rec-ommendation. I believe thatRepublican advisers are telling candi-dates to keep us at arm’s length asthough we are a plague. We cannot

recommend candidates who will notvalue us and our ideals and who willnot talk to us.

I do not believe my party is wortha fight. I do not understand those whotell me that they vote straight party.Those who vote only for party ratherthan candidates’ beliefs surrendertheir vote to the party leaders.

I do not understand legislators whoonly listen to their leaders and not to

their constituents. Don’tthey have any valuesand opinions of theirown? Why are so manypeople willing to voteagainst themselves justto support their party?

As your PACEdirector, I distributedmy report of the PACEinterviews regardingthe spring primary elec-tion recommendationsfor statewide offices. Ihope it was helpful asyou went to the polls. I

tried to give you information based onknowledge, not party.

In July, the PACE Board will makerecommendations for the Nov. 7 gen-eral election. I ask you to consider theefforts of PSEA-PACE to interviewand inform you regarding our recom-mendations. Party affiliation shouldnot be important; however, the candi-dates’ beliefs regarding our importantissues will be the basis of the recom-mendations.

I am ever grateful to those whogenerously donate to our PACE cam-paigns. Without you we would nothave the necessary tools to battlethose who want to take away thethings we value. Thank you.

“I do not understand legislatorswho only listen to their leadersand not to their constituents.Don’t they have any valuesand opinions of their own? Whyare so many people willing tovote against themselves just tosupport their party?”

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Are you moving forward? Or sitting on your behind?

Reaching 65 brings more thannew aches and pains.

You may continue to work withouta pay limit if you choose to start col-lecting your Social Security. You areeligible for Medicare. And if you get asupplemental policy to your Medicare,you will likely receive “free” withyour plan an invitation to enroll in aneligible SilverSneakers plan provider.(There must be a better term, butthen, again, there are probably muchworse.)

SilverSneakers is a comprehensiveprogram that improves overall well-being and strength and offers socialaspects as well. Designed for all lev-els and abilities, this program is gen-

erally provided by your health plan atno additional cost.

It provides access to fitness equip-ment, group exerciseclasses, social network-ing, online education,and a sense of communi-ty. With more than13,000 locations nation-wide, you can visit anyone of its locations atany time. VisitSilverSneakers.com.

But there is no deny-ing that keeping activemeans more than volun-teering and traveling andbelonging to clubs. It isvitally important to keepyourself as physically fitas you possibly can be.Being physically fitoften translates intobeing mentally fit aswell.

While we can’t stopencroaching arthritis ordeteriorating hips andknees, we may hold offsome of their more dam-

aging effects. There is proof that regu-lar exercise can benefit people withconditions such as heart disease, highblood pressure, diabetes, balanceissues, difficulty walking, and arthri-tis.

If you have not been into regularexercise, don't continue to avoid itbecause you're “too old.” You proba-bly aren't. Check with your doctorabout your abilities and limitations; heor she can probably help you find aprogram that can meet your needs.

You’ve worked hard and providedPennsylvania’s children with yourknowledge and care; please enjoyyour retirement. There are things wecan’t escape healthwise, but if you'vedodged the health bullet or survivedone, then you owe it to yourself to getyourself in the best shape you can be.

Don’t be like me. I stopped myregular walking. I cut my activitylevel way down. Next thing you know,I'm depressed, up a size, and myknees were killing me (frankly, Iattributed the crummy knees to jump-ing off and on all those educationalbandwagons!), and my chiropractorwas becoming my new best friend.

Learning that I had “end-stageosteoarthritis” in BOTH knees scaredme off my sofa, and I went to rehaband am working on strengthening allthose diminished capacity muscles inpreparation for my new knees. I hadintended to exit with my originalparts, but I am hoping the medicalanatomy students won’t be disappoint-ed in me.

Get moving, now, my friends!

by Joanne Alaica

“There are things we can’t escapehealthwise, but if you've dodged thehealth bullet or survived one, thenyou owe it to yourself to get yourselfin the best shape you can be.”

Once upon a time, Wisconsinwas one of the strongest col-lective bargaining states in

the nation for public school employ-ees. Contracts between districts andWEAC (the Wisconsin NEA affiliate)local associations were similar tothose in Pennsylvania: They bargainedreasonable wages, hours, and workingconditions, and the state provided agood pension system.

Then Gov. Scott Walker camealong. In his controversial 2011 budg-et, he and the Legislature set out toeliminate most collective bargainingrights for Wisconsin state employees.

The response to Walker's policies,you may remember, included protestsat the Wisconsin State Capitol and aneffort to recall Walker. In the 2012recall election, Walker won again,becoming the first American governorto survive a recall effort. And his dra-conian policies went into effect.

Teaching in Wisconsin today isvery different from just a few yearsago. Barry DeWitt, PSEA UniServrepresentative in Eastern Region,recently spent a week there with four

other PSEA staff volunteers to helpwith internal organizing efforts. “Notsurprisingly, when the law devastatedWEAC bargaining rights, membershipin NEA and the state organizationdropped drastically,” DeWitt said.

The group was sent to Kenosha, acity of approximately 100,000 on theshores of Lake Michigan and about anhour from Milwaukee. There thePSEA team saw the aftereffects of Act10 which contained “one union-bust-ing provision after another,” accordingto DeWitt.

Wisconsin school employees nolonger have payroll deduction or fairshare. Worse, collective bargaining hasbeen reduced to “meet and confer.”And of course, salaries have beenfrozen at their 2011 rate. To top it all,each local must recertify every year.Fifty one percent of members mustshow up in person to vote for the re-certification to pass. “You know howdifficult it is to get members to attendmeetings near the end of the year. Thatprovision has had disastrous effects,”DeWitt said.

“A lot of associations dissolved

right away,” he said. “Especially thesmaller ones. The larger urban onesstill exist, but they are ghosts of theirformer selves. In Kenosha, a good,comprehensive contract has beenreduced to one page.” DeWitt addedthat the passage of the law caused agreat number of mid-career teachers toleave the profession. Now there is ashortage of teachers, and no one ineducation programs to replace them.Class size is skyrocketing, a recordnumber of emergency certificationsare being issued, and daily subs aretrying to cover classes instead of certi-fied teachers.

All of this is also undermining thepension system. Fewer contributorsmeans a less stable system down theroad. DeWitt added, “I’d urge retireesin Pennsylvania who value their for-mer profession and their pensions tostay involved and to vote to preventWisconsin shenanigans from beingrepeated here. Several prospectivegubernatorial candidates would like todo more damage here than Act 10 didin Wisconsin. Elect the right governorin 2018.”

Wisconsin: what happens when anti-union forcesdestroy bargaining

6

The first NEA-Retired NationalAdvocacy Day began as a newbusiness item at the NEA-Retired

Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.last July. Upon approval it was taken tothe floor of the NEA RepresentativeAssembly where it passed unanimous-ly.

The NBI said: “Working with theNEA-Retired Executive Council, theCenter for Advocacy will plan andhold a national retirement securityadvocacy day in the spring of 2017.

The purpose of this one day on CapitolHill would be to focus on effective andbeneficial Social Security Reformincluding the repeal of the GovernmentPension Offset (GPO) and the WindfallElimination Provision (WEP), opposi-tion to mandatory coverage of SocialSecurity, and opposition to privatiza-tion. Activities for this day wouldinclude visits to Congressional officesand a national call-in effort.”

Over the following months theNEA-Retired officers and Executive

Council kept talking about the project,and during our February virtual meet-ing we decided it was time to get theproject moving. Personally, I was excit-ed by the chance to get retired mem-bers involved in an NEA project aboutissues so important to many of them.

The date was set for April 27 sincethe council and the NEA Board wouldbe in Washington for their spring meet-ing, and most importantly Congresswould be in town.

Al Campos and Jacob Dowd, NEA

NEA-Retired Advocacy Day Once again, PSEA comes through

(continued on Page 7)

by Susan L. Jones, memberNEA-Retired Executive Council

M ost retirees regularly re-evaluate the future. So, hasanyone asked you lately,

“How do you like retirement?” How do you answer a question

like that? Some of us might say with-out hesitation, “Great. Couldn’t bebetter. What’s not to like?” Don’tknow how I got everything done thatI need to do while I was working.Life is good, and we’re really enjoy-ing our family and friends.”

Some might say, “I’m bored, notenough to do. Miss my job, the kids,and my colleagues. Really having ahard time living within my incomelevel.” I hope this is not you.

The state of public education inPennsylvania and nationally is scaryand relentless. Concerns about healthcare and pension reform are stressful.Many are having difficulty copingwith the new economic realities thatretirement creates. Some have foundour new life to be overwhelming.

The tracking of our life savingscan be volatile and uncertain. Theworry about funding a catastrophichealth care issue is ever-present.

Long-term care is a fleeting but wor-risome thought. Pension concerns andthe lack of cost-of-living increasescompound our economic insecurity.We finally understand the meaning of“living on a fixed income.”

We’re all in the same place, but isit really a place we want to be? If itisn’t, we are duty bound to do some-thing about making things better. Weknow from our professional careerthat we are limited on what we cando on our own to make improve-ments. We are experts in balancingour individual skills and our collec-tive strength to get things done.

How we adjust to our many newroles and responsibilities will be asvaried as there are retirees. What willdefine comfortable in this new lifestage will vary. One thing doesremain constant: The support systemthat we have relied on as profession-als and sometimes have taken forgranted remains.

PSEA-Retired provides its mem-bers with many outlets of activity andis a place where those of us with sim-ilar interests and concerns can meet

and share ideas. My advice to you isto remain a member of PSEA-Retiredand get your friends to join, partici-pate in region and state activities,share your concerns, and join old andnew friends to share experiences.

When someone asks how retire-ment is going, you’ll be able toanswer with a new vigor that thingsare great, and if they aren’t, you havethe means to work to make thingsbetter. It is up to you to take the ini-tiative so you will be able to sayproudly, “I love my life.”

See you at a PSEA-Retired meet-ing, and we’ll share some storiesabout our grandchildren, highlights ofa recent adventure, or some fish sto-ries, our most recent hobby, or thepleasure gained from volunteer activi-ties. We can discuss, plan, and pre-pare for the next challenge.

Until then, keep smiling. No onesaid it would be easy. Retirement isreserved for the courageous.

Comments or thoughts can be sentto: PTRussoSr@aol.com

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by Philip RussoThinking out loudThinking about retirement, one more time

lobbyists, were assigned to workwith NEA-Retired officers andExecutive Council members plus anyRetired state presidents who couldcome. These would be the peoplegoing in person to the Capitol.

Emails, phone calls, etc., wouldbe done by those back home. PSEA-Retired President Mary Moranattended. Barbara Matteson, NorthCarolina-Retired president, and pastNEA-Retired president, joined thegroup in D.C. to lobby in person. As

PSEA-Retired past president andcurrent Executive Council member, Iwas there.

PSEA was supportive of ourefforts to make this day a success.When I spoke to PSEA PresidentJerry Oleksiak about our efforts, heimmediately agreed to put the mes-sage out – not only to our retiredPSEA members but to our activemembers as well.

All of you who get PSEA emails,as well as those who are on social

media, received my message, whichI shared with NEA staff. They wereamazed at our efforts and by thenumber of Pennsylvania memberswho read and responded to our mes-sage. By late afternoon, more than33,000 people had opened thatemail.

So, our Washington adventureended, and Pennsylvania’s participa-tion in it was part of its success.Thanks to all of you who helpedmake it so!

NEA-Retired Advocacy Day Once again, PSEA comes through (continued from Page 6)

Pennsylvania State Education Association400 North Third Street, P.O. Box 1724Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-1724www.psea.org/retired

PSEA-RETIRED STATEMENTis an official publication of thePennsylvania State Education Association.

W. Gerard Oleksiak – PSEA PresidentDolores M. McCracken – PSEA Vice PresidentRichard W. Askey – PSEA TreasurerJames G. Vaughan – PSEA Executive Director

Mary Moran – PSEA-Retired PresidentPatsy Tallarico – PSEA-Retired Vice PresidentCarl Rieffanaugh – PSEA-Retired 2nd Vice PresidentJoanne Alaica and Audrey Mathison – EditorsErica Garcia – Graphic DesignerJohn Troutman – Staff Editor

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHARRISBURG PAPERMIT NO. 289

Vol.24 No. 4 Official publication of PSEA Summer 2017

8

In case you haven’t noticed, PSEA-Retired locals and regions are busiestin the spring and fall. The weather usually cooperates

(the rainy spring this year was proba-bly an exception to the rule), and thelunches keep us updated on pensionand public education issues.

Members in the Eastern Regionare lucky enough to live two hoursfrom Broadway and make a traditionof seeing two shows a year. Last fall,two busloads saw the famous RadioCity Music Hall Christmas Show andtook a special tour of Radio Cityafter the show.

Eastern also traveled to New YorkCity to see “Natasha, Pierre and theGreat Comet of 1812” before JoshGroban leaves the show.

Of course, everyone would really,really like to see “Hamilton,” but

that’s out of the question for now.Instead, the region enjoyed the cleverstaging, the terrific cast – many,including Groban, have Tony nomi-nations – and the music of “Comet.”

Northwestern Region held its fallluncheon and business meeting inSeptember. Jeffrey Young spokeabout estate planning and how to bebest prepared for the changes in thelaw that took place over the last fewyears. The annual January Thaw atthe region office was a success asusual. Members enjoyed lots ofgames and activities and forgot aboutall the weather outside. After all,“We live where it really snows,” NWRegion President Ron Bennett said.The region held its spring lunch-

eon and business meeting in May.Guest speaker Steve Eugene talkedabout the changes in NEA member

benefits and how to access them.After lunch, Northwestern Regionelected new officers: RichardEberlin, president; Janet Peterson,vice president; and Kevin Kantz,secretary/treasurer. Outgoing presi-dent Ron Bennett received a bigthank you for his leadership over thepast four years.

In the Midwestern Region,President Ed Zipay said locals heardthe daughter of a Battan DeathMarch survivor, watched a marijua-na-sniffing police dog, and metJudge Deborah Kunselman, our suc-cessful PSEA-PACE recommendedcandidate for the PennsylvaniaSuperior Court. And members arelooking forward to September whenwe will have our first annual regionretired “Back to School – but notfor us!” picnic.

Touring, lunches keep retired regions busy