Pension officials traveled in style

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hmmmmmm wrote:

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With your logic, Enron losses should never have happened, eh?

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Bobcats wrote:

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The employee (teacher) receives their salary (tax money) from providing a service (education) to the community (taxpayer). It stops being taxpayer money when it is deposited to the teachers. Are you going to argue that taxpayers should have control over whatever teachers spend their money on?
And look at it this way: 14% of a *any* salary is a big chunk. Benchmark it against the returns of SP500 on a 30 and 50 year chart, compare it to the average returns on a typical IRA that a private investor would use. Can you guess which payout is larger- pension, or private IRA? Can you guess which requires you to receive your investment in monthly installments?

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Jason wrote:

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Are you seriously for letting public pensions fail? I am safely in the conservative camp when it comes to politics and I expect you and I would see eye to eye on much, but to punish the tens of thousands of public servants who contribute at least 10% of their gross pay to the system, have NO choice as to participation in the system, and little control over the choices made by the pension boards, is plainly ungrateful to those of us who protect, serve, and teach. I am a police officer, and every officer I have spoken with is quite willing to increase our contributions to make the system solvent up to the "30 year" funding requirement. These little trips to NYC may not be my choice, but truly are small change.

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Kahless wrote:

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These are not union pension funds. There will be no taxpayer bailout. The only ones who will fund the system are the teachers by taking home a smaller paycheck.

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POTL wrote:

The Dispatch has had it out for the pensions for years and this is another example of them not allowing the truth to get in the way of a good story. Understand that the pension officials are doing the best to keep the pensions afloat. Unfortunately they were not able to prevent the great recession, the subprime crisis, the failure of Bear Stearns, Lehman, FNMA, AIG, etc.

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Old Man wrote:

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Indeed, I don't suppose that anyone recieving a Social Security benefit would object to anyone, anywhere being able to simply log on to an internet site and look up how much their monthly benefit might be. Perhaps the newspapers should start championing that idea too.
After all there "could be abuses".

Hotstuff wrote:

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I'm with you Jason. As a career firefighter I am willing to increase contributions and decrease benefits rather then expect a taxpayer bailout. We are taxpayers too! The problem with Mr. Galt and his ilk is they're perfectly willing to throw those of us who risk our lives to protect them under the bus. Why? The huge economic and political clout of our pension systems and the first amendment rights we exercise with that clout.
Stay safe brother.

tom the traveler wrote:

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Public pensions should be no different than private pensions. That is if they fail, they fail.
Why should the private citizen sacrifice more than the lord and master also known as the "public servant"
In the private sector, the second you stop providing real value to the customer, the customer walks away. That is what I call real public service.
In the public sector, they are monopolists with job protection most can only dream of. And if there is a deficit, the answer is to raise taxes. That is what I call public tyranny and the public sector employee acts more like a lord and master.

tom the traveler wrote:

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In fact, sometimes the "service" is so bad, people move out of town, change jobs and even pay private schools to avoid a "service" that is totally "free".

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tom the traveler wrote:

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Your entire argument is based on free market. You can not claim a "service" when like it or not the "consumers" are forced to pay for it. The professors at private high schools and colleges can claim what you said because you as a student don't have to go and taxpayers don't have to pay.
A salary is earned when the consumer decides it is worth it. Many taxpayers have no children in the public schools and some taxpayers pay for their kids not to be in public schools even though it is "free".
There are no words for the stupidity in your "service" argument. In fact, public employees are a monopoly who dictate price and level of "service" to the public. They are nearly dictators. It is the private sector employees who truly serve the public as they are not protected by a monopoly. The private sector must serve or else the consumer can walk away.
For the public schools, you can walk away but you still have to pay for stinky "service" anyway.
In fact, sometimes the "service" is so bad, people move out of town, change jobs and even pay private schools to avoid a "service" that is totally "free".

Wilbur wrote:

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Great idea. They can go to investment conferences in Strongsville. Then our fund managers will be the best and brightest in the country and outperform those fancy investment bankers from New York.

tom the traveler wrote:

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Face it. If they had gone for low interest, sovereign debt, there would be no 40 billion shortfall.
The Ohio public pension mess is bigger than Enron.

WhatdoyouknowJimmyN wrote:

Get off it Nash. Must be a slow news day when all you can do is muck around in something you know nothing about and distort the facts. The retirement boards charged with the fiduciary responsibility of overseeing the pensions of 1.1 million retirees must be educated and knowledgeable in order to make the decisions that must be made to keep the pension funds a reliable source of retirement income. Didn't you ever go to school? Your journalism makes me wonder. Perhaps a little continuing education might help you get out of your slanted journalism rut.

POTL wrote:

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If you truly believe investing in sovereign debt is that simple I have some Greek, Irish, and Spanish bonds you can buy.

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Bobcats wrote:

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If you can't see that public education is an important service to society, there is no reason to argue with you.

joeyb wrote:

Hey, there should be college recruiting sessions advertising not necessarily the average pay that educators and excellent pay that school administrators make during their careers, but to emphasize that, in retirement, a teacher with 30 years + masters degree can gross $60-$70K per year, and administrators can fetch $80-$100K per year.
This should be recruitment tools for promoters' toolboxes (term of today's over educated folk).
However, it is kept in STRS's back pocket hidden from the public who fund the bulk (either directly or indirectly) the pensions.
Can anyone tell me who, other than corporate executives (of which there are few compared to the masses), can do this well in retirement? If you think so, you are dreaming and/or lying.
Contact your local School Treasurer, Superintendent, or STRS to find out more details as to how you too can live a very comfortable retirement; much better than your average neighbor.
STRS knows it cannot sustain these kind of payouts, but bargaining unit agreements over the last 20+ years have made the education business very lucrative. Somehow, you and I will continue to fund the excesses whether they are payouts to pensioners or to the corrupt directors and adminstrators of STRS.

tom the traveler wrote:

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Here are some facts about public education. Like it or not, you have to pay for it.
Fact 2: Even though it cost zero to go, many parents pay thousands of dollars to have their kid go somewhere else.
Fact 3: In the Cleveland city schools, 40 percent of the teachers with kids, make sure their kids go somewhere else.
Bottom line: Government schools are a monopoly and act like one which is pretty much like any monopoly and that is badly.