There’s a teacher shortage in New Jersey, that New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller — who’s also running for governor — says can be addressed in part by changing the state’s tiered pension system.
The state’s largest teachers union is backing a bill sponsored by Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) that would undo major changes that granted varying levels of pension benefits based on when a teacher was hired. The tiers began in 2007, reducing benefits and increasing the retirement age almost yearly until mid-2011. All educators hired after that are eligible for the lowest level of benefits and highest retirement age.
“By setting up these tiers, we have these different levels where people start at different times and they’re just not getting the proper pension. It’s become extremely unfair,” said Greenstein.
Greenstein says she’s heard so many complaints from teachers and others about how unfair the pension system is now. Both she and Spiller say changing it is a key factor in educators not wanting to stay in the profession. The bill would grant all new hires the same benefits as those hired before 2007, adding to the state’s pension obligation.
“We need to make up for the shortages that we’re facing right now. So anyone who says ‘we’re fine and let’s keep things the way they are,’ well, look at what we’ve got right now,” said Spiller, one of several Democrats vying for the party’s nomination in June. “We’ve seen since these dollars were removed, and we’ve created these pension tiers, we’ve seen that local municipalities have had to make up that difference. Local school districts are hiring educators at higher steps. Local municipalities are offering signing bonuses if you come in, all of that is paid with local property taxes. Because if you cut back on the state-level funding, you just increase those property taxes, and that’s what’s happening now.”
All paid in an effort for districts to attract and retain teachers amid the shortage. But Garden State Initiative, a nonprofit think tank self-described as center-right, put out a report recommending the state not adjust its tiered system, but offer more flexible retirement options instead.
“The pension plan the state offers now, it locks teachers into a 20-year commitment. And workers of today and tomorrow aren’t looking for that 20-year commitment anymore,” said Audrey Lane, president of Garden State Initiative. “And the private sector realized that a long time ago. And in offering different pension options, you’re doing two things at once. You’re helping to recruit new employees and at the same time you’re lowering our long-term pension liability, which is completely unsustainable in our state.”
The group is also opposed to increasing pension options for existing educators.
“I think teachers should have the benefits they signed up for. Whatever contract they signed for, they agreed to. And I don’t think going back and retroactively changing any contract, in any way, is the right way to go here. I mean this is a step backwards. We’re taking changes that were made for the benefit of the state, and teachers agreed to them, and other state employees agreed, we’re gonna back to a system that’s gonna pile on debt,” says Lane.
Spiller says he doesn’t see it as going backward. “I see it as equity. There’s a couple things going on here. So many of our support professionals, they’re getting bumped out of the pension system with the hours they’re working, and to have someone work a full career and have nothing, no pension, is unacceptable.”
“If they made agreements for X amount of time, it wasn’t because they really agreed, it was because that’s what they had to deal with. If we make this change, I think we’ll be moving in a positive direction,” says Greenstein.
But whether any other lawmakers agree on this being the right direction to turnaround the teacher shortage will be seen when this bill gets posted for a committee vote. No date has been set for that yet.
