A Message from the President

November 2003   

Fight Penalties for Public Service

NEA Retired President, Jim Sproul

Hardly a week goes by that I don't get a letter or phone call that goes something like this:

I worked for years in the private sector, paying money into Social Security. Then I went into teaching to help kids. Now I'm finding out that, because I served public education and get a pension, my Social Security benefits have been cut! What can NEA do about these unfair Social Security laws that penalize education employees?

These callers and letter-writers are referring to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)--two nasty provisions in Social Security law that NEA is battling hard to repeal. Since I worked and live in Kentucky, one of the 15 non-Social Security states where educators are most widely affected, I've heard way too many firsthand accounts of how GPO and WEP take money out of members' pockets, even pushing some under the poverty line. (See page 17 for details on the impact of GPO and WEP.)

Together, members of NEA and NEA-Retired are keeping the pressure on Congress to respect--not penalize--public service. On October 1, for example, 150 NEA members converged on the Capitol to press our message and persuade additional members of Congress to sign on to bills in the House and Senate that would repeal GPO and WEP. More than 6,000 others called or sent e-mails.

Many of the members living in the 15 non-Social Security states who understand how they're directly affected by GPO and WEP are speaking out on this unfair situation. But winning repeal is going to require all of the Association's members to support their colleagues. If you haven't done so, please take the time to learn more about GPO and WEP and ask your members of Congress to co-sponsor NEA-backed bills (see page 17 for details). Our retirement security is at stake.

Note--Have you considered becoming more involved in the political process? Ask your affiliate about opportunities to become a delegate to the national Republican and Democratic Party conventions in 2004.

People

November 2003   

A Course in Classic Cars

Photo by Edmonds Photography

If you ask Pennsylvania member Fran Shore about her dream car, she'll tell you that it's already sitting in her driveway. "Brandy," as Shore affectionately calls her 1936 Buick Century convertible, is one of the half-dozen antique cars she and her husband, John, have restored over the past 30 years.

"I call her Brandy because she's a beautiful wine-colored car, but she also drinks gasoline like alcohol," explains Shore. Only 717 such cars were made in 1936, and Brandy is one of five remaining today.

In addition to the Buick, the Shores have restored a 1929 Model A Ford, a 1922 Durant Touring car, a 1931 Willis Ford roadster, a 1962 Corvette, a 1978 Indy Race car Corvette, and a 1946 Cushman motor scooter, all of which have been named national winners by the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA).

Since Shore's retirement in 1993, the couple has served as master judges for the AACA, driving their cars across the country from California to Maine to participate and judge at as many as 12 shows a year.

"We're not as interested in the winning as we are in the enjoyment of the car itself," says Shore. "We love the pure joy of driving."

Shore has also been deeply committed to increasing youth interest in the antique car hobby. She has been the AACA National Youth Chair for seven years and is an elected member on the AACA Library and Research Center Board.

"As part of an educational program, I was taking a young group of children around the floor to look at the cars and all their parts," describes Shore. "A little boy tugged on my pant leg and looked up at me and said, 'I really like you.' And that's the message right there--no matter what your hobby is, you're always a teacher."

For more information on the AACA, go to www.aaca.org.

--Tamara Zakim

On a Real Membership Drive

The odometer on Alma Wyatt Jones' 2003 Cadillac DeVille just rolled over 2,000 miles. But give her time. As a membership coordinator for the Alabama Education Association-Retired, she put 148,000 miles on her old car so quickly that her husband, Melvin, insisted on buying her the new car for safer travel.

Jones and her fellow volunteers in AEA-Retired are a key reason the group was recently cited by NEA-Retired as the fastest-growing retired program. Jones tries to talk to at least 50 people a week about joining AEA-Retired, and she's not shy about sharing the benefits of membership.

"Even if you aren't a retired school employee, you can still join AEA-Retired as an associate member for just $10," she says. "So I always carry a membership application with me. A while back, I had to get new eyeglasses, and I signed up my optometrist."

Jones, who taught ninth-grade social studies in Tuscaloosa, traces her family's involvement in the teaching profession back to the 1800s. An aunt who put her through college was a high school English teacher. 'We're a teaching family, and now that I'm retired, I want to keep doing everything I can to continue helping active and retired school workers--and all seniors, for that matter," says Jones.

"I've been in too many pharmacies where seniors got out of line once they learned the price of their medication," says the activist. "I can't sit by and just watch. These seniors have worked too hard all their lives not to be able to have the medications they need. So I keep signing up members, keep building our movement, because we need to elect people who will support Medicare and keep Social Security solvent."

--Matt Simon

Tracking Athletes in the Field

Oregon member Jerry Jenson has collected over 200 baseball caps while volunteering as a track and field official across the United States and around the world. And that count's sure to go up.

Jenson, who still throws shot put, discus, and hammer, began officiating when his two daughters joined their school track teams. He's since covered events from the high school to national levels and even volunteered at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Both Jerry and his wife, C. Ann, are USA Track & Field-Oregon-certified. Although they admit officiating can sometimes be a chore (C. Ann was once stuck running the wind gauge for nine hours straight without a bathroom break), the pair gains satisfaction through companionship. "It's always a proud moment when the two of us can take the field together," Jerry says.

Officiating has taken the Jensons from Australia to Puerto Rico to Canada and back again, but no matter where they are, they emphasize treating each event like the Olympics for those athletes.

"As an official out on the field, it's easy to get emotional," Jerry says. "When you see an athlete get hurt but keep going because he or she wants to finish the race, it makes it all worthwhile."

--Cheryl Ross

News Briefs

November 2003   

Maine Retirees Score a Win on Health Premiums

Photo Courtesy of David Pillsbury

Amidst the frenzied coast-to-coast budget slashing this year, something remarkable took place in the Pine Tree state. Maine lawmakers agreed to increase the state's share of retiree health premiums. The result? Pension checks delivered to Maine's retired teachers beginning in July increased about $20-25 a month.

What happened? The Maine Education Association (MEA) and MEA-Retired launched a full-court press to improve health insurance benefits for Maine retirees. "Seventy percent of our retired teachers receive a pension of less than $20,000 a year," says David Pillsbury, a retired history teacher from Portland and chair of the MEA-Retired legislative committee. As a result, retired teachers are barely scraping by, and Active members are delaying their retirement because they can't afford to assume the cost of their health benefits.

The keys to MEA's win:

Organization. Pillsbury spearheads a legislative contact team that includes 135 retired members, located in every Senate and three-fourths of the House districts. The contact team members receive training each November on the Association's positions and strategies for working with legislators. When the legislature is in session, "we contact representatives every week about what our program and positions are," says Pillsbury.

Consistent message. State employees in the Maine State Retirement System (MSRS) have 100-percent state-paid health insurance. Retired teachers in MSRS, even with the increased state subsidy, must pay 60 percent of premium costs. They're letting lawmakers know that the inequities must end. Pillsbury says that when he goes to the state Capitol, "legislators come up to me and say: 'Stop sending those e-mails! We know what you want. We got the message.'"

Research. When lawmakers appeared poised last winter to drop their commitment to help retired teachers with their premiums, the MEA Benefits Trust, which negotiates health insurance rates for Active and Retired employees, crunched the numbers again. It found that the increases in health insurance rates were not going to be as high as originally expected--which freed up money in the state budget. That helped turn the tide, says Charlene Thompson, past president of MEA-Retired. "At that point, legislators who had opposed us said that, since we had done our part in keeping costs down, they could support us."

Electing pro-education candidates. Maine educators worked hard to get pro-education candidates into the legislature and governor's office. That paid off, as MEA and MEA-Retired staff and members lobbying and testifying to legislators "saw a lot more friendly faces," says Catherine Sullivan, MEA-Retired's representative to the MSRS Board of Trustees. "Retired teachers were very active in the MEA's process of screening and endorsing candidates. They also spent a lot of time working on campaigns and making phone calls. It's an old process that still works."

MEA and MEA-Retired will continue pressing the legislature until retired teachers have parity with state employees, says Anne Sheehan, a member of the legislative contact team. She says their recent win will boost their lobbying and member recruitment efforts. "It's important for our members to see that we're successful; when they see these results, they say, 'maybe all the work is worth it.'"

--John O'Neil

My Contribution

November 2003   

Uniting Voices, Raising Awareness

Photo by Joanne Carole

At 81, self-described 'Peacenik' Eleanor Kenyon hasn't lost her passion for world peace.

Eleanor Kenyon dreams of establishing mediation camps in Belfast, Ireland. She spreads messages of encouragement to all willing ears. Her answering machine proudly declares, "If you want peace, work for justice."

At 81, this Orlando, Florida, member's advocacy is far from over. Earlier this year, the self-described "peacenik from the '60s" formed Women's Voices for Peace in hopes of sharing cultures and ideals with other "Daughters of Abraham"--Islam, Christian and Hebrew women. The group's current 35-member roster meets to exchange information on religion and cultures. "It's educational," Kenyon says of the assembly's potential long-term effects. "If women can have this focus, it's going to impact the community and our children and help to add a peace and justice attitude toward one another." She hopes the women in her organization will spread its messages to their other associations, causing a domino effect of peaceful influence.

A government, psychology, and history teacher for 28 years, Kenyon gave a lasting gift to her middle and high school students. "I see them now, and they say, 'You taught me to think,'" she says. "I never told them this, but that's exactly what I was trying to do."

After retirement, Kenyon stuck by her credo of teaching others to think by becoming a mediator and supporting peer mediation programs in schools. (Mediation involves solving arguments through listening, understanding, cooperation, and helping the quarreling parties resolve their differences.)

She's mediated more than 1,000 cases for the Orange County courts and trained 900 peer mediators in over 30 schools and peace camps. But she's still not done making a difference in her community. During her 15 years of retirement, Kenyon has joined over 13 peace groups and even earned peace awards from Amnesty International and the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, as well as a human rights award from NEA.

Kenyon's advice for advocates consists of three steps:

1. Listen and ask questions, because that way you'll get information you wouldn't ordinarily have.

2. Be perceptive and visionary in order to use the information.

3. Act on it: speak up, write, propose, be an activist!

She believes her small efforts will help make a tangible difference in the world. "The little bit that one person does allows a lot more to be developed," she says. "It has to start with the vision of one."

-Cheryl Ross

For More

For information on peace organizations and how to volunteer nationally and worldwide, contact:

Amnesty International (212-807-8400; www.amnestyusa.org)

Coalition for Peace Action (609-924-5022; www.peacecoalition.org)

National Peace Action (301-565-4050; www.peace-action.org)

Member Profiles

November 2003   

Janet McIntire
Pre-Retired

Background
I've been an instructional assistant in the Salem/Keizer, Oregon, school system for 23 years. I've served as full-time president of my ESP local and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Education Association (OEA).

Why I Joined NEA-Retired
I've been active in OEA for many years, and it just seems natural to keep going. OEA has put a lot of time and energy into training me, and I feel like giving back. I'm also driven by a desire to help fellow ESPs. Teachers have been organized in Oregon for decades, but ESPs have only had the right to organize since the 1990s. Many ESPs don't know the full value of OEA-Retired; they don't realize how much their lives can be affected by budget bills, ballot measures, and other legislation. More retired ESPs need to stay involved and remain politically astute and active. I want to help make that happen.

Lorraine Hora
Recently Retired

Background
I was a school counselor for 35 years in California and Hawaii, and I now live in Hilo, Hawaii. I currently serve as president of Hawaii State Teachers Association-Retired (HSTA-Retired).

How I'm Spending My Time In Retirement
HSTA-Retired is a big priority. As president, my goal is to keep building our program so we can preserve retirees' health benefits (which are overseen by the state), support Active members whenever possible, and keep retirees experiencing positive personal growth through the Association. I also volunteer to work in hospice and respite care. I spend some of my time with adults who are seriously ill, but I also draw upon my career experience as a counselor to provide bereavement counseling to children who have lost a loved one.

Harold Gilbert
Active Retired

Background
I taught school for 40 years. My last job was teaching seventh- and eighth-grade students in the gifted program at a middle school in Gallatin County, Tennessee. I've served on the board of examiners for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, and I've been a Sumner County Commissioner since 1976.

Why I'm Committed to Activism
I've always been active! I started out working in the civil rights movement before teaching. I joined NEA-Retired because more retirees need to realize how much they can contribute to their own well-being and others' by getting involved. I've learned how much difference one person can make, because I sit on the county council and chair its financial management committee. We just passed a tax increase that will mean much healthier budgets for 37 schools. But you'd better believe it took a fight to pass it, and we didn't get everything we wanted. I try to spread this message--that we all need to fight hard for our schools, and that our efforts do make a difference.

Letters

November 2003   

How We're Thriving

Your September Cover Story ("Six Ways to Thrive in Retirement") asked readers about their retirement experiences. I encourage other readers to try RV'ing. We live in the Southeast in a permanent home but travel extensively, especially during the summer. We've been to the Indianapolis 500, hot air ballooning in New Mexico, and to Calgary, Alberta, to name a few stops. The RV is even handy back home when we have family or guests visit. A great source of information is the Family Motor Coach Association, which can arrange for trip routing, discounts, and mail forwarding. (FMCA can be reached at 800-543-3622 or www.fmca.com).

Donna Ebright
Fort Myers, Florida

Disappointed with Coverage

I was disappointed that the September issue contained only one small mention of our efforts to eliminate the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP). I realize that we must fight for prescription drug coverage, but please do not give up on GPO/WEP repeal. These two laws are causing financial havoc to retirees around the nation.

I'm a retired teacher, and GPO/WEP has caused me to lose one-half of my earned Social Security retirement benefits, $462 a month. Should my husband precede me in death, I will receive $21 a month in widow's benefits, a ludicrous amount after a lifetime of payments made by my husband in the belief that they would help support a surviving spouse. It's time for Americans to force Congress to take the right and moral step and correct a wrong it committed in enacting the GPO/WEP in the first place.

Martha Callaway
Wichita Falls, Texas

Editor--We'll continue to cover the campaign to repeal GPO/WEP as events warrant (see "President's Viewpoint" and "10-Minute Activist"). Between issues of This Active Life, you can find timely updates on GPO/WEP at www.nea.org/lac/socsec.

Contributions

This month's cover story reports on NEA-Retired members making a difference in the lives of children and educators outside our borders.

How did we learn about these four service-minded retirees? We didn't bump into them on our world travels (too bad!).

Rosalie Giffoniello wrote last year to keep us posted on her efforts to help children in Kolkata, India. Tom Mechtenberg's wife, Mary, e-mailed several months ago to tell us of his Peace Corps assignment in St. Lucia. We heard about the work of Barb Gosh and Mary Jo Huelle from officers of their state retired groups (Thank you, Gene Craig and Tom Black!).

When we learned more details, we decided Rosalie, Tom, Barb, and Mary Jo deserved a longer feature, so we found photographers in India and St. Lucia and developed our cover story.

It's more evidence that NEA-Retired members are making a contribution just about anywhere you look. And it proves that your letters and e-mails make a difference. Keep 'em coming! Let us know what you're up to, or suggest angles or people to talk to for this future story:

Retirement Living Options. Whether you're living at home, in an independent living facility, or some other arrange-ment, what factors did you weigh in making your decision? What are the advantages or drawbacks?

Contact John O'Neil, This Active Life, NEA, Suite 710, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; joneil@nea.org.

News Flashes

R_x Provision in Doubt
What seemed certain this summer--that Congress would pass landmark new legislation to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare--is now in doubt. Both the House and Senate passed bills quickly, but, at press time, the House-Senate conference committee had stalled. One hang-up: how the new legislation would affect employers offering prescription drug coverage to retirees. Critics say the bills will encourage employers to stop offering prescription drug benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees. Employer-sponsored plans are the leading source of drug coverage for seniors, according to the Henry Kaiser Family Foundation.

Do-Not-Call List on Hold
More than 51 million Americans who signed up for the Federal Trade Commission's do-not-call list must grapple with telemarketing pitches a while longer. At press time, two district courts had issued rulings preventing launch of the FTC's do-not-call list in October. Until the courts settle the issue, continue to tell telemarketers to add you to their do-not-call lists, advises the Privacy Rights Center (PRC). For more, go to www.privacyrights.org.

Social Security Privatization
The calls to privatize Social Security, conspicuously missing as the stock market swooned, are back. The New York Times recently reported that President George Bush plans to make the availability of private investment accounts through Social Security a central plank of his 2004 election campaign. Meanwhile, four Senators recently staged an old-fashioned debate in the Senate on adding a private investment option to Social Security. Take note: Senator Jon Corzine of New Jersey, former chairman of Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs & Co., was one of those arguing against private investment accounts.

Great Ideas

November 2003   

Swapping Stories, Making Connections

Photo by Sandy Schaeffer

Judy Thibault Klevins' storytelling project builds understanding across the generations.

Virginia member and arts education consultant Judy Thibault Klevins remembers the moment she discovered the potential of exchanging personal experiences through storytelling. "I was teaching an acting exercise to a class of high school drama students," she says. "We were practicing telling someone else's story in the first person and one young man was telling the story of a girl who had lost a grandparent."

Klevins describes how the girl ran out of the room crying, moved by the memory of the grandmother she loved. "When I saw the understanding in the boy's reaction, I realized that he respected her and had connected to her experience--and that the moment had brought the class closer together," says Klevins. "I thought, if storytelling can bridge the differences in this classroom, why can't it cross generations?"

From this enlightening teachable moment emerged the concept for Swapping Stories, a project Klevins created three years ago to bring seniors and youngsters together in the Arlington, Virginia, school district.

Swapping Stories participants first improve their inter-viewing, listening, and storytelling skills in separate workshops before meeting with their partners in a local senior center. Following the "swapping" session, during which senior and child respond to a variety of interview questions, participants tell their partner's story as if it happened to them. "It's about establishing ways to connect and finding commonalities," says Klevins.

The program, initiated in 2001 at Barrett Elementary School with seniors from the Culpepper Garden Senior Recreation Center, has since expanded to four additional projects that reach middle school students, German exchange students, and retired teachers.

"It's great for retired teachers, because they can come in and work with students again, without it taking over their whole life," Klevins remarks. "It's especially exciting because we as teachers have a penchant for continued learning. We have so many skills for organizing, constantly being creative, and making up projects. And with Swapping Stories, there are no grades and no report cards."

Klevins, 58, taught language and theatre arts in Arlington for 33 years before retiring in 2000 and launching Swapping Stories with the help of a local Arlington Early Retirement Project and the Bicentennial Taskforce of Arlington. The program's participants say it enables seniors and children to bridge cultural and generational gaps, collect oral histories, and develop empathy and communication skills.

"The biggest high is watching the kids when they see the seniors tell their stories," insists Klevins. "It's like watching a kid watch fireworks." After participating in the program, says Klevins, one student told a television crew, "'I didn't know how important my story was until my partner told it to the group. It made me feel lucky to be alive.' To hear a child say this helped me realize how profound the process is."

Klevins encourages other retired members to follow their interests and see what resources are offered in their community for new projects. "I never thought I could do any of this, but I kept on trying. Every problem we solve leads to a success. You just have to go for it."

To learn more about Swapping Stories, check out the program Web site (www.swappingstories.org) or contact Klevins (klevins@erols.com).

--Tamara Zakim

Cover Story

November 2003   

Going Global

By John O'Neil

It was the baby boomers--fresh from college and full of idealism--that John F. Kennedy called to service when he launched the Peace Corps in 1961. Four decades later, boomers looking to reinvent retirement are once again trekking across the globe to make a difference in the lives of the less-privileged. This Active Life talked to NEA-Retired members serving children and their fellow educators in far-flung spots around the world: India, Thailand, Tanzania, and St. Lucia. A snapshot of what they're doing--and what they've learned.

Kolkata, India

When New Jersey member Rosalie Giffoniello arrived in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in 1999 to work with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity for eight weeks, the conditions facing orphaned children with disabilities shocked the former speech therapist.

"The kids were lying on the floor on mats or in cribs all day long," she says. "No stimulation. The kids had potential, but no one recognized it." During her service, Giffoniello taught some of the children to feed themselves or walk for the first time. And she decided to make a personal, life-altering commitment to the children of Kolkata's slums. "When I went home, I took early retirement from my job, gave away my possessions, and returned to Kolkata for good," she recalls.

Since then, Giffoniello, with friend Janet Grosshandler-Smith, has launched the nonprofit Empower the Children (ETC) that sponsors six small but vital programs to aid the destitute and disabled in Kolkata.

The "pavement school," for example, serves about 30 homeless children ages 4-16 who live on the streets, begging to survive. Until recently, the lessons took place right on the streets, but Giffoniello found space on the roof of a building. The children get lessons, lunch, and regular access to a mobile clinic. "We try to slowly reorient the children from the street to the classroom," Giffoniello explains. "You have to be patient, because the kids need a lot of attention. But, slowly, they begin to change their perception of themselves from beggars to students."

Giffoniello herself teaches children ages 3-5 in an innovative preschool class designed to stimulate children's creativity. The program uses curriculum materials developed by friends of ETC in New Jersey. Another ETC program provides two hours of tutoring in a coaching center for 15 girls from some of the poorest slums of Kolkata. Giffoniello teaches each Saturday at yet another program, a home for 50 young adults with mental and physical disabilities. On the drawing board: a new orphanage that will serve 30 boys. In the midst of some of the most impoverished conditions in the world, "We're trying to give them their childhoods back," Giffoniello sums up.

Rosalie now lives in Kolkata nearly year-round, returning to the United States primarily to see her family and friends; to speak about ETC's work to schools, colleges, and community groups; and to raise money to support ETC's work. Her message: "If you're more caring for others, you're bringing the world one step closer to peace."

And she says she welcomes volunteers to India to help out. Last year, she worked with16 volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. Several of them were making their second or third visit to serve the children of Kolkata. "This is a perfect opportunity for a retired teacher," she says. "Our volunteers say this is a life-changing experience. They go to sleep each night feeling very gratified that they're making a difference."

For more information, contact Empower the Children, 7 Ryans Way, Jackson, NJ 08527 or e-mail Rosalie at giffoniello@hotmail.com.

Arusha, Tanzania

In this desperately poor African nation, where teachers often lack books and 100 primary-grade children may cram into a single classroom, Nebraska member Mary Jo Huelle works to keep alight a small beacon of hope.

The Mwangaza Teachers' Center (mwangaza is Swahili for "enlightenment"), which Huelle and her colleagues helped to build in 1997, represents a step forward for Tanzanian teachers, who must cope with shortages of materials and few avenues to improve their skills. Huelle first went to Tanzania in 1996 as part of a teacher exchange project run by the Lutheran church. She returned in 1997 and again for six weeks this past summer to help construct two new additions to the center: a seminar room and a hostel wing that will provide lodging for teachers who travel from other parts of the country for training.

It's the latest accomplishment of the Mwangaza Education for Partnership project, which operates teacher exchanges and training programs aimed at helping teachers enhance their skills. Although some Tanzanian teachers hold college degrees, many do not, and training opportunities are few.

Huelle points to Tanzanian teachers like John Kavishe, who "considered himself a mediocre teacher" before participating in the program's training. After going through the training, he announced to his fellow students and staff, "You don't know me any more, because I have been transformed." He now serves as a facilitator supporting other teachers receiving training, says Huelle.

Huelle, who retired earlier this year after 32 years as a teacher in Gering, Nebraska, now serves as president of Friends of Mwangaza, a nonprofit that supports programs at the Mwangaza center. Since her first trip to Tanzania, she's been back three more times to help out--spending about $2,500 of her own money for each six-week visit.

"I return because the needs are so huge; you do so little, yet it means so much because it can help change children's lives," she says. "Education is the only thing that's going to make things better for them."

For more information about the work of Friends of Mwangaza, contact Huelle at mhuelle@actcom.net.

Soufriere, St. Lucia

While Western tourists bask in the sun and gorgeous scenery of this jewel of the Caribbean, Peace Corps volunteer Tom Mechtenberg is on a more serious mission: improving the odds for St. Lucian students with special needs.

"Their education system has never had a special program of any sort for children with mild or moderate mental or learning disabilities," says Mechtenberg, a former school social worker from Port Huron, Michigan. "Those kids have been left on their own in the regular classroom. Most teachers have at least 30 students in their classes, so they weren't getting any kind of special attention."

Mechtenberg's main priority is helping St. Lucians create more support services for these children. He works with school principals, provides training for interested teachers in monthly workshops, and models lessons in the classroom. Halfway through his two-year Peace Corps assignment, Tom's also introduced an assessment tool to diagnose students' strengths and weaknesses and is currently working with teachers on using a new skill-building program in reading.

In one school last year where they were able to set up a resource room staffed by a teacher full-time, "We saw big improvements," says Mechtenberg. "The kids got more attention, and they wanted to be there for more than an hour a day." Unfortunately, not all the schools he works with could devote a full-time teacher to work with special-needs students, so the gains there have been harder to come by.

Tom's wife Mary, a former nurse, also volunteers for the Peace Corps, working in AIDS/HIV prevention. The couple lives in the lower level of a rented house in Soufriere that has a spectacular view of the Pitons (the twin peaks highlighted in all the tourist brochures) and get their exercise from the one-mile hike uphill to their home. Tom is also copy editor of a quarterly news magazine, Serious Ting, circulated among Peace Corps volunteers in the Caribbean.

"Overall, the experience has been gratifying," says Mechtenberg. "I'm happy that I've been able to use my experience in special education to start a new program here. I've also gained a new appreciation for the quality of life we enjoy in the United States. You have to take the long view, and the long view is that progress takes time."

You can reach Tom at mechtenbergs@hotmail.com.

SobPrap, Thailand

For 33 years, Barb Gosh taught at every level in Mundelein, Illinois, volunteering whenever a new class or course needed a teacher. Within six months of retiring, she was volunteering again, putting her Peace Corps application in the mail on the first day of the new millennium.

"As a teacher, you get a chance to see people--both students and parents--improve in some way and feel good about themselves," she says, explaining her decision. "I wasn't ready to retire from helping people make their lives better."

Within a year, this Midwesterner, who had never lived outside a cold climate or traveled to any other country besides Canada, was on her way to SobPrap, Thailand, where she recently completed her Peace Corps assignment.

"I was the only Westerner assigned to a town of 7,000 that was National Geographic beautiful," says Gosh. "You looked through the village, and over the rice paddies to rows of mountains." Gosh lived in a small house "about the size of a two-car garage--and it was one of the bigger ones in the village. I was delighted to have snakes in the house, because they took care of the mice."

Gosh's role in SobPrap was to identify several schools interested in modernizing their instruction, and then work with two or three teachers at each school. She coached the teachers on strategies to enhance students' problem-solving and introduced hands-on activities, which are rare in Thai schools. One of her favorite projects addressed the absence of globes and atlases in SobPrap schools. Gosh assisted teachers and students on a project that had students creating a mural of a world map on a school building wall.

While in Thailand, Gosh got help from her friends with the North Lakes Illinois Education Association-Retired chapter, who donated money to support the publication of an activity book and audiotape as well as scholarships to send students to high school. High school attendance in Thailand is not free, and, tragically, some poor children who cannot pay are sent by their parents to Bangkok to work as prostitutes. Gosh looks at the money in human terms, saying it was "something that will keep four kids in school and out of prostitution for two years."

Since returning, Gosh has lectured on her experience to groups of retired teachers, schools, and to her chapter of the American Association of University Women. "It was amazing--mentally, physically, culturally, and professionally challenging and satisfying," she says. "Yes, I'd volunteer again."

E-mail Barb at bgosh9876@aol.com.

Is Service Overseas for You?

Thousands of seniors have broadened their horizons teaching English overseas, but that's hardly your only option. Play your cards right, and you might find a group that will send you out to excavate archaeological sites, restore Buddhist temples, or help to catalog insect species in the rain forests of the Amazon basin.

If the idea of service overseas appeals to you, a great place to start is How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas (Penguin Publishing, 468 pp., $17) by Joseph Collins, Stefano DeZerega, and Zahara Heckscher. Among the book's tips:

• Check your motivation. Volunteering takes commitment, so if your primary motivation is to have an adventure, you might be better off with traditional travel options. Don't volunteer to escape a bad situation, or expect that your short-term assignment will change the world.

• Talk with program grads. If you're getting serious about volunteering overseas, interview several people who have been through the program that's piqued your interest. Their observations are likely to be more realistic than glossy brochures. The volunteer organization should be able to supply names.

• Hone your fund-raising skills. Many organizations that offer service opportunities require you to pay fees, which can add up to several thousand dollars depending upon the locale and length of assignment. You needn't shoulder the financial load yourself, though. Work with your business and social contacts, as well as community and religious groups, to offset the cost of service.

How to Live Your Dream profiles 80 different organizations that support volunteering overseas. On the short list of groups that may be especially appropriate for seniors are:

• Amizade. Offers two-week programs in countries in the Amazon basin and elsewhere; volunteers assist with the building of schools and health clinics. Call 888-973-4443 or go to www.amizade.org.

• Elderhostel. Elderhostel volunteers work on a range of projects, from construction to historical preservation and archaeology. Projects range from one to three weeks. For more, call 877-426-8056 or go to www.elderhostel.org.

• Global Volunteers. Organizes short-term volunteer experiences (up to three weeks in length) in 19 countries. Call 800-487-1074 or go to www.globalvolunteers.org.

• Peace Corps. Those 50 and over currently constitute about 6 percent of Peace Corps' 6,700 volunteers. Selected individuals serve a two-year assignment. For more, call 800-424-8580 or go to www.peacecorps.gov.

Ask the Expert

November 2003   

Considering Long-Term Care Insurance

Q: What is long-term care (LTC) insurance?

Generally speaking, LTC insurance is designed to help you pay for the day-to-day help you may require if, because of an injury, chronic illness, or old age, you need assistance with basic activities such as dressing, bathing, or eating. You're covered whether you need services at home, in your community, or in a nursing facility.

Q: Why should I consider LTC insurance?

After age 65, Americans have more than a 70 percent chance of needing some form of long-term care, according to a Roper study released by the American Society on Aging.

Q: How expensive is nursing home care?

A study this year by GE Financial's Long Term Care insurance division found that the average cost of a year in a nursing home is $57,700--a seven percent increase from the previous year's study. Nursing home care is most expensive in Alaska ($166,700 per year) and least expensive in Louisiana ($35,900).

Q: Doesn't Medicare (or Medicaid) pay for nursing home care?

Medicare provides limited coverage for skilled nursing care, for no more than 100 days in each benefit period, and only following a hospital stay.

Q: Where can I find out more about long-term care insurance?

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners publishes an excellent booklet, A Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance. A copy of the guide must be presented by a long-term care insurance representative at any meetings with potential clients.

--Doug Terwilliger
NEA Member Benefits

Comparing Policies

Here's what to ask insurance representatives when comparing long-term care insurance products.

• What is the underwriting company's financial health? Ask for the ratings from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's.

• Does the policy provide benefits for all levels of nursing home care as well as community and home health care, including respite care?

• What options does the policy provide?

• What is the total dollar value of your policy?

• What elimination or waiting period options are available?

• Must elimination or waiting periods be satisfied more than once per lifetime?

• What provisions for inflation are offered?

• Does the policy provide benefits for care coordination or case management of treatment?

• How long before pre-existing conditions are covered?

• Does the policy require the insured to be unable to perform two out of six activities of daily living (ADLs) before benefits are paid?

• Does the policy include a waiver of premium clause? If so, how many days does the policy specify?

For more information on long-term care, visit www.neamb.com.

--D.T.

Quick Tips

Shop Around
A good general source of information on LTC insurance is A Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance, from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (816-842-3600; www.naic.org).

Compare Policies
Be sure to compare policies based on common features. Don't forget: NEA Member Benefits has designed a program, the NEA MemberCare� Long-Term Care Program, based on your needs. For more information, contact NEA Member Benefits at 800-637-4636 or go to www.neamb.com.

10-Minute Activist

November 2003   

Time To Repeal GPO and WEP

Can educators count on receiving the Social Security benefits they earned? The answer may depend on whether Congress passes NEA-supported legislation to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

Background

In enacting the GPO, Congress forgot that the original purpose of the dependent/survivor benefit was to help a husband or wife who depends financially on his/her breadwinner spouse. The benefit provides additional income to help the financially dependent husband or wife once the breadwinner retires or is disabled (in which case the dependent benefit applies) or once the breadwinner dies (in which case the survivor benefit applies).

The GPO turns the policy underlying the dependent/survivor benefit on its head. It reduces the dependent/survivor benefit and harms the financially dependent spouse--very often women who spend most of their lives raising their families and who work outside the home for only a short period of time. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the GPO reduces benefits of 300,000 people by more than $3,600 per year.

The WEP causes public employees outside the Social Security system, such as educators, to lose a significant share of their Social Security benefit. The WEP severely affects low-wage state and local government employees, and it also affects the teaching profession as a whole. For example, some individuals in Social Security-covered employment may wish to make a career change and go into teaching. But if the teachers in their state are not covered by Social Security, those individuals will be less likely to make the change once they realize that they will lose a portion of their Social Security benefit.

The GPO and WEP affect at least one-third of America's educators, primarily in 15 "non-Social Security" states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas. (Note: In Georgia, Kentucky, and Rhode Island, some local governments participate in Social Security while others do not.)

Congressional Update

Since Representative Shaw (R-FL), Chair of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, held a hearing on GPO and WEP May 1, the number of bipartisan co sponsors of the House bill (H.R. 594) has risen to 269. That's a majority of House members. It is now up to Chairman Shaw to move the bill forward for a subcommittee "mark-up."

On the Senate side, Susan Collins (R-ME), Chair of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, held the Senate's first hearing on GPO/WEP reform on September 24. Afterward, Collins urged the Senate Committee on Finance to act on the issue this year. The Senate bill seeking repeal (S. 349), which is championed by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Collins, has 25 bipartisan co-sponsors.

To demonstrate NEA's resolve to repeal the unfair Social Security offset laws, the Association held a National GPO-WEP Lobby Day on Capitol Hill October 1 with more than 150 activists urging Congress to repeal the two provisions. NEA also coordinated more than 6,000 calls and many e-mails to Congress that same day with a clear message: "Respect public service, repeal Social Security offsets."

--Al Campos
NEA Government Relations

What You Can Do

Contact Your Members of Congress
More co-sponsors are needed on both the House and Senate bills to repeal the GPO and WEP. Contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to co-sponsor S. 349 and H.R. 594. Thank those members of Congress who are already co-sponsors and ask them to urge congressional leaders to move the bills toward passage.

Write or Call
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or call your local radio talk show to explain the importance of the issue and what must be done about it.

Stay Informed
To follow developments on H.R. 594 and S. 349, go to NEA's Legislative Action Center at www.nea.org/lac/socsec. You can gather background information, see current lists of co-sponsors, find sample letters to Congress and the media, and even contact your Senators or Representative directly.