Norton school board members oppose HB 315
To the editor:
The Ohio House of Representatives is considering a proposal asking for additional dollars from both school districts and their employees to fund health care benefits for retired teachers in House Bill (HB) 315. This initiative is being driven by the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), along with active and retired members of STRS interest groups.
HB 315, sponsored by Rep. Scott Oelslager (R-District 51), of Canton, seeks to increase both the employee and employer shares to STRS by 2.5 percent of certificated staff payroll for an overall increase totaling 5 percent. These increases would be phased in over a five-year period, in .05 percent increments. Currently, employers contribute 14 percent and employees contribute 10 percent of payroll to pay for retirement benefits.
As members of the Norton City Schools Board of Education, our board opposes any such increase in costs to school districts. At a time when funding for our schools is limited, it is not in the best interest of our district to provide additional retired educator benefits, taking away dollars that could impact the quality of education for our students today. These additional mandated costs will not put more teachers in the classroom, buy textbooks or implement new programs; rather, they will go directly to STRS for retiree benefits.
In the Norton City Schools District, when fully implemented, this increase would cost us $244,000, which equals .81 mill or 5.05 teachers to cover the cost of funding educators’ benefits.
The public and private sectors are facing the challenge of providing affordable, accessible and high-quality health care for both employees and, ultimately, retirees. Instead of asking school districts, already struggling under many financial constraints, to provide additional funding, STRS should take a responsible look at its own retirement and health care benefits. Demographics like life expectancy and the number of years people are expected to remain in the work force have changed since the current benefit structure was put in place.
STRS must live within its means rather than seek higher levels of funding from school districts.
Cindy Webel, Laura Leonti, Scott Collins, Diane Farmer and Lisa Stemple, members of the Norton City Schools Board of Education
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