January 14, 2011. Florida legislators are attacking “among the five most financially sound state pensions in the nation.”
A Message from Florida Education Association
Teachers and education employees earn their modest pensions through years of public service.
* Regardless of what you might hear from politicians in Tallahassee, pensions for teachers and education staff are modest.
* In general, public pensioners receive benefits either on par or below those in the private sector.
* Teacher pensions average about $325 per week. This has to cover rent or mortgage, utilities, transportation expenses, groceries, medicine, healthcare costs and other day-to-day expenses.
* Pensions for other school employees are much lower – about $195 per week on average.
Florida’s pension plan is in sound financial condition.
* The Florida Retirement System (FRS) is fully funded and able to meet its obligations.
* FRS is NOT one of these struggling pension systems you hear about. There are some pensions out there, private and public, that are struggling in the current economic downturn. In some cases these pensions don’t have the funds to pay their retirees the pensions that were promised.
* FRS is among the five most financially sound state pensions in the nation, according to the Pew Center on the States.
Some politicians in Tallahassee want to make radical, risky changes to FRS.
* If experience in other states is a guide, the changes being considered (like individual 401(k) accounts) may cost taxpayers more than the current system.
* These accounts funnel public dollars through the accounts of retirees and directly in to the coffers of Wall Street firms (in the form of fees and other charges).
* FRS is working. This is no time for risky experiments with our retirement security.
Small tax dollar contributions in public pensions bring big benefits to the local community.
* In Florida, tax dollar contributions for local and state public pensions are very low and in general represent a small fraction of operating budgets.
* Pensions dollars are investments in communities and actually strengthen local economies by providing retirees with stable income and increased purchasing power.
Attacks on pensions hurt our schools.
* Mandating employee contributions to FRS from teachers and education staff amounts to a pay-cut for these employees.
* Attacking their pensions hurts our schools – being able to offer a decent pension to employees (who otherwise receive below average compensation) helps our schools retain experienced and talented teachers and staff.