Passing the Torch

Next month, Retired members from around the country will convene in Los Angeles to shape our organization’s future during the NEA-Retired Annual Meeting. Those attending the Annual Meeting, to be held June 27–29, will debate new business items and elect new leaders.

So by the time you receive your next copy of This Active Life in September, you will have elected a new president of NEA-Retired. The last six years I’ve served as president have gone by much too quickly. My grandmother used to say that as you get older time passes faster. I think I now know what she meant.

Presidents come and go, but the issues we face—such as Social Security privatization, declining health care benefits, and pension erosion—will remain a high priority of NEA-Retired.

I want to thank you for your support these last six years as we tried to be on the cutting edge of these issues for our members. I know that you will give my successor that same help and support. Again, thank you for everything you do for NEA-Retired, public education, and the seniors of this country.

This October, a delegation of NEA-Retired members will be among those convening for the White House Conference on Aging. These conferences are held only once a decade, and past meetings have contributed to the creation of Medicare, vital nutrition services for the elderly, and the development of the National Institute on Aging. Your fellow NEA-Retired members will ensure that our organization’s issues and concerns are well-represented. Here's more on the meeting agenda and activities leading to this historic summit.  

Presidents come and go, but the issues we face—such as Social Security privatization, declining health care benefits, and pension erosion—will remain a high priority of NEA-Retired.

May 2005  

Breathing New Life into Stained Glass

Most people think of stained glass only as a style of art found in old cathedrals. But stained glass artist Peter Youngers’ work is anything but medieval. Youngers, who taught art for 36 years at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, is renowned in the art world for his modern, free-flowing, abstract style of stained glass paneling.

“When you sit down to design a stained glass piece, you have no more creative limitations than an artist sitting in front of a canvas,” says Youngers. “I actually developed my abstract style as a watercolor painter.”

So how did he get from watercolors to the elaborate medium of stained glass? “It happened sort of by accident,” says Youngers. He was remodeling his home some 35 years ago when a friend suggested using a stained glass panel in one room. Youngers designed it himself and has been “in love with stained glass ever since.”

For decades he has been asked to design panels for countless public buildings, churches, hospitals, and private residences—as well as to lecture and teach courses on the art of stained glass.

After an artistic career filled with accolades and creative satisfaction, Youngers received the ultimate tribute from Northeastern last year when the college named its art gallery in his honor, and placed a bust of him at the entrance. Says Youngers, “It can’t get much more special than that!”

—Matt Simon

Striking the Right Chord

Maine member Donald Gay spent 35 years teaching high school instrumental and choral arts, so that made his retirement in 1972 a bittersweet proposition. But Gay quickly found a way to continue hitting the right note—as a piano tuner.

After enrolling in a correspondence course in piano tuning, Gay soon found himself operating a thriving business as a tuner—meeting musicians and making new friends while on his professional rounds.

“It’s no surprise that piano tuning appealed to me as a second career,” says Gay. “You don’t have to be a musician to go into the business, but I think my years as a band and choral director helped me, because—even when you have electronic equipment available to you—90 percent of piano tuning is done by ear.”

At first, Gay thought of the new job as just fun, but as his customer list grew, he found himself earning up to $20,000 a year in retirement. “Eventually, I moved to a senior residence, but I didn’t give up my work,” says Gay. “I kept some clients, began tuning the piano at the senior residence, and even started a choir.”

Now 91, Gay lives with his daughter and recently sold his business. “But I still play keyboards, and I can still tune a piano,” he promises. “I stay as active as I can, which is the secret to a long life.”

—M.S.

May 2005

Ruth Ann Sweazy

BACKGROUND
I’ve been a K–3 teacher at Spencer County Elementary School in Taylorsville, Kentucky for 14 years. I serve on our state retirement system board, and in 2002 I was one of the 100 teachers who received the Milken Educator Award for the nation’s most outstanding educators.

Why get involved in retirement issues?

I have more than 20 years until I can retire, but serving on the state retirement board has taught me how important it is for Active and Retired members to work to preserve the benefits they deserve. Kentucky has one of the best retirement systems for teachers in the country, and KEA has played a big role in developing it. I teach in the same elementary school I attended, so I know my community and my history well. School employees here enjoy good benefits because we’ve worked actively to secure them, and each generation will have to do the same. We all need to become advocates.

Bob Scalzo

BACKGROUND
I taught for 37 years as a math specialist for grades 6–8 in Danbury, Connecticut I've served as a building chair for my local Association, and as a trustee for Connecticut State Teachers Retirement Board. I've received two Danbury public service awards, one for teaching and one for work as a volunteer firefighter. I retired from teaching in 2003.

How has retirement been so far?

Fun—and busy! I've been a volunteer firefighter in Danbury for 45 years, and now I'm chief of the department. In addition, I serve on the mayor’s task force on homelessness. I also conduct retirement workshops for Active teachers each fall. So, I haven't really stopped working, but my wife and I make a point of escaping to our new house in Arizona at least four times a year. I just took my grandkids on an eagle watch at the Grand Canyon, and I can’t remember a better experience. I've also remained friends with many former students.

Virgie Louis

BACKGROUND
I taught business and finance for 37 years at North High School in Omaha, Nebraska I served on my local Association board and on the Nebraska State Education Association board.

What's the best thing about retirement?

Everything! I work on the NSEA-Retired legislative contact team to keep members up to speed on pending legislation that may affect education—for better or worse. I also participate in our intergenerational mentoring program for new teachers and teach GED prep courses three days a week. After that it’s all family. I enjoy traveling with my husband of 39 years, and I love visiting my two children and my mother in New Orleans where I grew up. Trips to New Orleans aren’t just for pleasure, they’re a must: There are certain types of Southern food I need to eat for survival!

May 2005 

The Ultimate Gift

Becoming an organ donor can mean a life-saving break for another.

Callie Waldrop, a former biology teacher from Helena, Alabama, knows firsthand the benefits of becoming an organ donor. Seven years ago, one of her relatives needed a heart transplant. Through a gift from an anonymous organ donor, he got the heart he needed—and is no longer living on borrowed time.

“A new heart made him a new man,” says Waldrop, who has volunteered to be an organ donor, along with her husband, Gerald, and two adult children.

“I figured if I’m gone and someone else can be helped, that’s something that I should do,” says Waldrop, who taught at two state community colleges for 30 years before retiring in 1995. “To give someone else the gift of life is something we should all think about. It’s the right thing to do and a way to help other people.”

If you’ve never given much thought to whether to donate your organs, you should know that the process is simple—and the need great. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates more than 87,000 candidates are awaiting transplants of the kidney, pancreas, liver, lung, heart, and bone marrow. Seventy people daily undergo transplants, it says, but 17 others die because of a shortage of donated organs.

Anyone can become a donor, and you’re never too old to sign up. (Your physical condition, not your age, is most important.) To become a donor, simply indicate it on your driver’s license or carry an organ donor card in your wallet. The cards are available for download and printing at the Health and Human Services Web site for organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

Helen and Gene Craig, retired educators living in Libertyville, Illinois, say the potential for saving lives motivated them to sign up as donors.

“It was the right thing to do if someone needed anything I had to give,” says Helen, 72, a former first-grade teacher. “Be sure to let your family know that’s what you want. Sometimes kids get real emotional. Let them know ahead of time while you’re healthy.”

Says Gene, 73, a former teacher, administrator, and counselor: “There are so many people out there who can lead productive lives, and if I can be a party to helping that occur, I think it’s something to be considered.”

Constance Knowlton has gone a step further than most organ donors—she’s agreed to donate her body to the medical school at Michigan State University. The 74-year-old retired teacher from Lansing, Michigan, knows her gift will help train a new generation of medical and osteopathic professionals and possibly lead to important research and cures.

She doesn’t harbor doubts about her decision. “If they can learn from my rusty old bones, they’re welcome to them,” she laughs. “If you can leave something of you with somebody that’s a kind of immortality,” adds Knowlton, who retired in 1994 after teaching social studies and English for 31 years. “It’s a personal decision. For me, it’s a good thing.”

To seniors sitting on the fence about becoming donors, Gene Craig offers this nudge: “As an educator you’ve been giving all of your life,” he says. “Here’s a way to continue to give.”

—Mike Tucker

Myths vs. Facts

Myth: Doctors will not try to save my life if they know I want to be a donor.
FACT: Donation takes place and transplant surgeons are called only after medical staff have exhausted all efforts to save a life and death is imminent or has been declared.

Myth: Minorities should refuse to donate because organ distribution discriminates by race.
FACT: Organs are matched by factors, including blood and tissue typing, which can vary by race. Patients are more likely to find matches among donors of their same race or ethnicity.

Source: www.organdonor.gov 

May 2005

A Community in Song

It’s not on the test, but music helps kids come together, cope with tragedy, and learn.

In the corner of my study sits a plain rectangular box. Within rests an old autoharp, a small wooden instrument that plays chords when keys are pressed and strings are strummed.

My autoharp evokes vivid memories of teaching primary school children in California in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. In those days, before theorists and tests took over the school curriculum, teachers were trusted to plan what young children needed to know and to teach each child at his or her own level as much as could be absorbed. We were free to fit the lessons to the needs of the day.

Each elementary teacher, as part of California ’s certification process, had to be proficient in playing the autoharp and teaching music. When children needed a rest, we often stopped and injected some singing into the day’s plan. What joy! When days grew long and stressful, how refreshing it was to bring out the autoharp, sit in a circle, and blend our voices in shared songs. A child who needed to move about was often called up to strum the autoharp and became, for a few moments, a star.

We sang “Down in the Valley,” “White Coral Bells,” “I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly,” and many, many others. Each morning started with a patriotic song—”America,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” or “America the Beautiful.”

Even kindergartners were delighted to sing the morning patriotic song. I wonder sometimes now, do they remember those songs and what they mean? Did the words imprint in the psyche, as they did in mine, and come to mind at stressful times all these years later?

Through singing, we felt a communion of spirit and a joy in the beauty of life, friends, and tasks well done. There is something about being in a group close together, raising voices in harmony, that gives one such a feeling of community and completeness.

One beautiful autumn morning at school, we heard bells continuously ringing. Thinking it might be a fire drill, we exited the room and marched to the area designated for fire drills. But when we arrived, the principal announced that our beloved President had been shot.

Stunned, we went back to our classroom, gathered in our singing circle and softly sang songs of comfort: “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,”

“Be Nobody’s Darling but Mine,” and “Some Sunday Morning.”

How heartwarming it would be today, in our classrooms, if we could put back some of the joy of spontaneous music, physical education, and playful games. Maybe then children would not be so stressed out as to have to commit hate crimes or bring weapons to school. Music is a great replacement for bad language and bullying behavior.

I think back sometimes to those days of double session schools, classes in barracks buildings, overcrowded classrooms without special services and aides and wonder how we survived. Survive we did!

We were ever mindful that music, art, recess, and physical education are important. Love and hope are the backbone of all learning. Children are not cogs in machines. We do not educate them that they might fit into some gigantic money-making bureaucracy. We educate them to be persons with a sense of hope and community. We educate them to be integrated persons who can love life, even when it is tough.

And so, when I look at my old autoharp, I remember all these things and I am glad that I had the opportunity to bring music and joy to the lives of some children.

Anna Antonucci retired in 1990 after teaching for 36 years in California and Oregon. This piece was published earlier in The News-Review of Roseburg , Oregon .

Your Security at Stake

The push to replace traditional pensions with 401 (k)-style plans is a bad deal for younger workers—and could even undermine the retirement system in your state.

A ‘Trojan Horse’ Threat
A Victory in California
Traditional Pensions Win Out

By John O’Neil

Dana Dillon knew when she started teaching in 1983 that her pay would lag behind private-sector salaries.

But “one of the things that made that a little easier to swallow is an adequate retirement benefit,” says Dillon, who teaches at Weed Union Elementary School in the shadows of Mount Shasta in California. Pension checks from the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) average $3,600 a month, about 65 percent of the average teacher’s compensation at retirement. That’s anything but lavish—especially considering that the state doesn’t participate in Social Security—but it is a foundation California teachers have been able to bank on.

So when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared war in January against the state’s pension funds for public employees—calling for an end to traditional “defined-benefit” (DB) pensions—the shock waves struck Dillon and other retirees with the force of a Golden State earthquake. Schwarzenegger proposed that all new public employees beginning in 2007 be forced into “defined-contribution” (DC) plans, like the 401 (k), and he vowed that if the legislature didn’t act, he’d take the issue to the voters through a November ballot initiative.

As this issue of This Active Life went to press, Schwarzenegger bowed to pressure from California ’s public employees, abandoning his support for a pension initiative this year. (More later on how they stopped the “Terminator” cold.)

But educators in a growing list of states face similar threats to their retirement security. This spring, legislators in Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Virginia either introduced bills or are studying whether to push public employees into risky DC plans. The action in the statehouses comes as President Bush travels the country pressing his plan for privatizing Social Security, which would punch holes in the venerable safety net that ensures a modicum of retirement security for millions of Americans.

“We’re seeing a full-frontal assault on secure defined-benefit pensions—whether it’s Social Security or your state pension fund,” says Lily Eskelsen, NEA secretary-treasurer and a former trustee of the Utah state pension fund.

A ‘Trojan Horse’ Threat

What’s going on? Facing tight budgets and an aging population, legislators who’ve linked arms with free-market ideologues are offering up a Trojan Horse. Using terms like “pension reform” and “pension modernization,” they’re trying to sell a switch to defined-contribution plans as a way to reduce the state’s obligations while giving employees “ownership” of their retirement plans.

But what’s inside this Trojan Horse should concern you. Converting to DC plans puts the retirement security of both Active and Retired education employees at risk, because such a change would mean:

• Reduced benefits for Active employees. By forcing new  education employees to make their own investments—and bear the risk—DC plans undermine the security that teachers have counted on in their pension system. “It’s a bad deal, because it takes a guaranteed benefit and makes it into an iffy proposition,” says Dillon, a pre-retired member of the California Teachers Association-Retired and CalSTRS trustee. “Take a look at the debacles of Enron and WorldCom. People lost their retirement accounts totally.”

While you can never be sure how much money you’d be able to draw out of a 401 (k), defined-benefit plans offer a predictable monthly payment. Traditional pension plans offer other advantages, including annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and survivor and disability benefits. If new employees are forced to enroll in a DC plan, it will become even harder to recruit and retain new teachers, predicts Arlene Pavey, president of CTA-Retired.

• Tough sledding for state retirement plans—and for those drawing a pension. Although it may appear that converting to 401 (k)-style plans affects only those still in the classroom, that’s not the case. Retirement systems depend on contributions from active employees to continue making long-term investments and paying benefits to retirees. “If the money doesn’t come in, the system melts down,” says Pavey. Although states must continue to honor guaranteed pensions to retirees, some benefits that fluctuate, such as COLAs, could be cut.
• Higher costs. States are unlikely to save money by converting to a DC plan because DB plans are thriftier. According to research by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest, the cost to administer a DB plan is about 18 cents per $100 invested, versus $1.35 to administer a DC plan. Indeed, even as legislators explore the DC option, the evidence that employees do better under DB plans continues to mount.

Nebraska offers a textbook case for the advantages of traditional pension plans, says Roger Rea, a former teacher in Omaha. The Nebraska Public Employees’ Retirement Systems (NPERS) operates separate defined-benefit plans covering teachers, state patrol workers, and judges. NPERS also runs a defined-contribution plan for state employees and another for county employees.

A study that compared returns for the NPERS plans found that between 1983 and 1999, the DB plans yielded an average of 11 percent per year, compared with 6 percent for those participating in the DC plans. The result? The DB plans offered their participants income replacement averaging 60 to 70 percent. The state and county workers in the DC plans, however, got a benefit of only about 25 to 30 percent income replacement. “The defined-contribution plan just does not provide the returns they need to get the benefits they require,” says Rea. Informed by such dramatic results, Nebraska in 2003 offered its state and county workers a defined-benefit plan and allowed workers presently languishing in the DC plan to switch over.

Arkansas educators aren’t yet facing the prospect of being switched over to DC plans—and retired teacher Hazel Coleman, who has served as a trustee of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System since 1997, would like to keep it that way. Coleman is as well versed with the complexities of pensions and investing as anyone. Yet she admits that, “when I was young, I simply didn’t think about what I needed for when I retired.” But the state retirement plan was looking out for her, making sure she and her employer made mandatory contributions, investing the money on behalf of all participants, and—most important—providing a buffer against the risk of investing by guaranteeing the benefits that Coleman and her fellow pensioners receive. Her pension also includes a guaranteed COLA of at least 3 percent each year. She lives comfortably—certainly not extravagantly—and has the funds to do some traveling and enjoy her favorite hobby, reading. 

When she was still teaching, “It was always valuable to know how much I would get each month in retirement,” says Coleman. “If you invest money in a 401 (k) you may not pick the right investments to make. And if they go under, you go under.”

A Victory in California

That’s one of the arguments California activists used to counter Schwarzenegger’s plan to gut the public pension systems. And in just 10 weeks, public employees, including a healthy contingent of Active and Retired members, forced the governor to back down. Their lessons could prove valuable when a DC plan is proposed for your state:

• Get the word out. Schwarzenegger made headlines coast-to-coast by declaring war on pensions, but opponents countered with the facts. Both CalSTRS and CalPERS promoted fact sheets showing the superiority of DB systems; some of these found their way into Letters to the Editor of newspapers. CTA aired radio ads countering Schwarzenegger’s proposals (which also included a flip-flop on education funding and a merit pay proposal for teachers), and CTA-Retired devoted most of its February newsletter to the implications of his pension changes.
• Lobby the decisionmakers. Beverly Carlson, secretary-treasurer of CTA-Retired, sent talking points and model letters to CTA-Retired members, urging them to lobby their representatives. “We got a fantastic response,” even drawing letters from retirees who’d moved out of state, she says. Carlson herself testified against a bill in the state legislature to end DB plans for public employees; that bill never made it out of committee.
• Find partners —and make noise. CTA was part of a coalition that included school board and administrator groups as well as unions representing firefighters, police, and nurses. They kept the pension issue in the forefront by protesting Schwarzenegger’s public appearances. “Everywhere he went, there was a group that was picketing him and booing him as he entered,” says Karen Russell, a retired teacher and former CalSTRS trustee.

At one appearance in Anaheim, local organizing paid off when 200 protesters showed up on 24 hours’ notice to picket Schwarzenegger and challenge those collecting signatures to put the pension proposal on the state ballot, Russell reports. At a Schwarzenegger fund-raiser in San Francisco, more than 4,000 teachers and other public workers picketed the event. The public couldn’t help but notice. “Every time a cable car went by, they could see what was going on,” says Dennis Kelly, president of United Educators of San Francisco. In the end, “You can’t discount the importance of going to the mat and putting the pressure on” says Russell.

A bruised Schwarzenegger has vowed to revisit the initiative in 2006. So NEA-Retired activists in California —and elsewhere—aren’t getting complacent.

Vermont  retiree Jay Kaplan, a trustee of the Vermont State Teachers Retirement System, chose another route to oppose those pushing the privatization of pension plans. Kaplan convinced his fellow trustees to pass a resolution putting investment firms on notice that the trustees will “carefully consider” whether investment companies wishing to do business with the retirement system support privatizing Social Security. Vermont was the first state to pass such a resolution. “We didn’t want to reward corporations that were working against the best interest of our plan members,” he explains.

Now’s the time to make your voice heard on the importance of pension security, adds Nebraska member John Jensen, former president of the National Council on Teacher Retirement. “The next six months will be crucial. If we can’t step up and stop it right now, it will be doubly hard next year. And if we lose guaranteed retirement benefits, it will be nearly impossible to get them back.”

Traditional Pensions Win Out

Why are defined-benefit (DB) plans worth fighting for? Just compare the benefits of DB plans to the risks of defined-contribution (DC) plans being proposed for public employees.

DB Plans

• Monthly pension amount is guaranteed for as long as you live
• Employer bears the investment risk
• Investment expenses kept low, because your money is combined with other plan members
• Feature early retirement option
• Typically include annual cost-of-living adjustment from pension plan provider
• Provide a minimum death benefit and disability features

DC Plans

• No guarantee of monthly allowance—and you could outlive your savings
• You’ll bear the risk if your investments do poorly
• Investment expenses are high, eating into your portfolio’s return
• You can retire early…but will your retirement account run out?
• No COLAs—the lump sum amount in your retirement is all you’ll have to draw on
• No minimum death benefit or protection against disability

May 2005

Staying Safe in Cyber-Space

These tips will keep you a step ahead of the computer hackers and thieves.

What a treasure trove the Internet represents for seniors looking to "surf" for great travel deals, send e-mail to friends, or bank online. The downside of this new access is that while you’re surfing online or working on your e-mail, hackers and crooks can vandalize your computer—even steal your financial or other personal information—unless you stay vigilant.

How To Fight Back:

Fortunately, there's a lot you can do to thwart those looking to wreak havoc with your computer (or worse). Some tips from the security experts at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

Make sure your passwords are at least eight characters long and (if practical) contain a combination of letters and numbers or symbols. Avoid common words: some hackers use programs that can try every word in the dictionary. Don't use your personal information, your login name, or adjacent keys on the keyboard (QWERTY) as passwords—and don't share your passwords online or over the phone.

• Protect yourself from computer viruses by installing anti-virus software. You can download anti-virus software from the Web sites of software companies or buy it in retail stores. Just as important: be sure to update your virus protection software regularly (going to the Web site of your software provider is usually easiest), because determined hackers develop new viruses every week.
• Establish a computer firewall, using software or hardware, especially if you use a high-speed Internet service. A properly configured firewall makes it tougher for hackers to locate your computer. Firewalls are also designed to prevent hackers from getting into your programs and files. Some recently released operating system software and some hardware devices come with a built-in firewall. Most new firewalls block outgoing information as well as incoming files. That stops hackers from planting programs called spyware that cause your computer to send out your personal information without your approval.
• Don’t open unknown files attached to an e-mail unless you are expecting it or know what it contains. If you send an attachment, type a message explaining what it is. Never forward any e-mail warning about a new virus. It may be a hoax and could be used to spread a virus.
• If you think you've been hacked or infected by a virus, e-mail a report of the incident to your Internet provider and the hacker's Internet provider, if you can tell what it is, as well as your software vendor.

To learn more, visit the FTC's Web site or call toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

—Doug Terwilliger, NEA Member Benefits

Fraud Alert

Is someone "phishing" for a way to steal your personal information and defraud you?

Computer security experts use the term phishing to describe an increasingly common scam. You receive a legitimate-looking e-mail from a bank or other business stating that the firm needs information to update your records. Thee-mails often contain a link to a company Web site that appears authentic.

Don't take the bait. Legitimate businesses would not ask for your personal information in an e-mail. What thieves seek is enough information about you to empty your bank account or secure credit cards in your name, which they then run up with purchases that mar your credit rating. 

If you're in doubt, call the company up, but don't reply to the e-mail, click on any attachment, or trust any phone number contained in the message.

Another tip: make sure that when you order products online, the Web site you're using is secure. Check the Web address in your browser—it should be https:// rather than just http://.

For more, go to
www.antiphishing.org.