Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/279010
AEA Advocate x Summer 2014 11 AT THE CAPITOL The Facts, cont. from page 9 Read the statement from Arizona Teachers of the Year on voucher bill HB2291 on page 5. Read more about research on vouchers on the NEA website at www.nea.org/home/17705.htm. Fact: The public disapproves of vouchers By overwhelming margins, Americans prefer improving their public schools to spending scarce tax dollars on voucher programs. Since 1966, vouchers or voucher-related measures have been placed before voters in 13 states and the District of Columbia 22 times. With the lone exception of South Dakota — which approved the provision of textbooks to parochial schools in 1986 — voters have rejected public aid to private and religious schools every time. In those 22 elections, nearly two out of three voters cast "no" votes. About 85 percent of private schools are religious. Vouchers tend to be a means of circumventing the Constitutional prohibitions against subsidizing religious practice and instruction. Fact: Vouchers are a diversion from the real issue Each year, about $65 million dollars is spent by foundations and individuals to promote vouchers. In election years, voucher advocates spend even more on ballot measures and in support of pro-voucher candidates. Vouchers are an integral part of the ALEC agenda to privatize public schools for profit. Read more about ALEC on page 30. Student achievement ought to be the driving force behind any education reform initiative, but vouchers do not improve student academic success. NEA and the AEA support member-led, student- centered efforts to improve public schools. Read more about NEA grants to improve student achievement on page 27. There is no need to set up new threats to schools for not performing. What is needed is help for the students, teachers, and schools who are struggling. In the words of political strategist, Grover Norquist, "We win just by debating school choice, because the alternative is to discuss the need to spend more money..." • HB2056, sponsored by Representative John Allen, prohibits any form of return to work program once a person retires. • HB2049, another Allen bill, prohibits any performance pay (Classroom Site Fund/ Prop 301 monies) from being included in the salary component for the purpose of determining a person's pension benefit. • HB2090, sponsored by Representative Phil Lovas, creates an unstable ASRS by permitting new employees to opt-in to a Defined Contribution (DC) system instead. Once the employee selects the DC option, they are "locked in" and unable to go back to the defined benefit ASRS system; thus leaving them financially unsecure when they reach retirement eligibility. • HCR2001, sponsored by Representative John Kavanagh, permits employee retirement contribution rates to increase and also allows retirement benefits to be reduced. The best way to keep public pensions intact and on track is to educate. Talk to your friends and your legislators about the health of Arizona's public pensions and the burden a switch to a defined-contribution plan could place not only on public workers, but on taxpayers. Here are some talking points to get started: • Taken together, Arizona pensions are relatively healthy, within 10 percent of the funded ratio that pension financial experts consider healthy. • Arizona pension plans are modest, averaging only $22,000. • Many retirees who receive higher pensions get no Social Security and rely completely on their pension for retirement income. • Long term, Arizona pensions have had a low cost for taxpayers. If there is another economic downturn, Arizona employees will split the increase in pension costs with taxpayers. • Defined contribution 401(k) retirement plans and other alternatives to traditional pension plans could cost taxpayers billions in transition costs and deliver lower investment returns. • Retirement security is at risk throughout the nation, but efforts to dismantle public- sector pensions will only make it worse for the middle class. Find your legislators and their contact information at azretirementsecurity.com/ take-action/. Use these and other resources on azretirementsecurity.com to get educated, spark a conversation and build support for our public pensions. 2 Summer.14advo.indd 11 3/14/14 2:58 PM