THE GRINCH STOLE PENSIONS: MASS EXODUS OF KENTUCKY EDUCATORS

It seems that the politics of our great Commonwealth have once again taken out the little man (& woman). Why is it that every time a Politician looks into the camera lens to say, “There is a Crisis” it ends up being a crisis created by the political establishment itself?

That is where we find ourselves when it comes to the State Pension Funds that are currently underfunded by billions of dollars. If we take a closer look, we realize that those are taxpayer dollars that are missing from the funds. In reality, the funds aren’t actually missing. We know exactly what happened to them. Over a period of recent years, the state failed to allocate necessary and required funds to keep the retirement system properly funded. How did this happen? Our Governors and Legislators decided they knew best and used the money for other projects.

But let us step back and look at the larger picture. Did you know that of eight state retirement plans, the Teacher’s Retirement System has only the 6th highest level of future funding in place? Out of those eight, the State Police Retirement Fund ranks seventh. It should come as no surprise that the fund which holds funds for State Legislators is the highest funded plan. When it comes to the group of individuals we’ve elected to represent us, the facts show they’ve represented themselves better than anyone.

The true fear in this matter is that Gov. Bevin’s new plan to combat this self-inflicted State Crisis is to be an accomplice to the criminality of our Legislature. Gov. Bevin feels a 6% salary cut, changes to the teacher retirement plan and smooth talking can fix the problem. The Governor has stooped low enough to call out educators who are pushing back, claiming their right to free speech and assembly is only taking away from the education process and causing the children of the Commonwealth to lose precious time in school.

A Northern Kentucky Teacher of nearly a decade, though requesting anonymity in her remarks, had this to say about her choice to become an educator some 14 years ago: “The incentive was our pension, retirement and healthcare. When you take most of it away there will be a mass exodus of qualified teachers who now have to worry about their future so much that they give up their position as an educator in search of better benefits. It is scary to be quite honest.”

This is the type of public abuse and coercion we attribute to national elections and the dirtiness of the National Political Parties. This is not The Best of The Commonwealth, nor is it the temperament needed from our Governor at this time. Money was stolen from our educators. Now we have a Governor who wishes to sweep the problem under a rug and force the same people this crisis hurt – to push the brooms themselves. I can assure you, our Teachers, our Police Officers and our State Employees won’t allow it.

I have a message for the many Legislators who created this crisis and a message for the Governor who wishes to be an accomplice to the crime: It Will Not Stand. Those Teachers, Police Officers and State Employees still vote and their vote matters now more than ever.