The SCEA Protecting and Defending School Employees’ Retirement Benefits Alarmists are predicting doomsday events in order to take away retirement benefits from teachers and school employees. These alarmists are calling for school employees to work longer, pay higher contribution rates, and dramatic reductions to retirement income by cutting COLAs. The fact is the SC Retirement System is sound and can fully operate without any changes for 50 – 60 years. Teachers and school employees who have seen their pay checks cut, salaries frozen, layoffs, etc. and are doing much more with less, are now threatened with cuts to retirement benefits. Competitive retirement benefits are necessary to retain highly qualified and experienced teachers. Reducing retirement benefits will cause our children to have inexperienced, less skilled teachers. The return on investments for the SCRS for fiscal year 2010 was 14.6% and for 2011 it is 18.4%. This return is more than ample to continue to provide COLAs for retirees at the current level. The SCEA recognizes that retirement systems are dynamic and require modification from time to time. We stand ready to discuss changes that will save money without inflicting severe economic injury on loyal employees who faithfully pay their assigned share.
Join The SCEA in the fight to protect the retirement plan. www.thescea.org