Contact: Sara Robertson  (202) 822-7823

February 6, 2007

NEA Calls on Congress to Pass
Social Security Fairness Act

Legislation will secure retirement
for teachers and education support professionals

WASHINGTON -- The National Education Association joined members of Congress today to call for the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, which will repeal two government offsets that keep dedicated public servants, including teachers and education support professionals, from receiving full Social Security benefits upon retirement. 

"This is an issue of fairness, justice and respect.  Do we respect our teachers and education support professionals enough to ensure them a secure retirement?" asked Reg Weaver, NEA president. "Do we respect our children enough to want to provide the very best educators for them?  Or, do we want to keep discouraging prospective educators from entering the profession?" 

Weaver went to Capitol Hill for a press conference with the legislation's authors, Representatives Howard Berman (D-Calif.), Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), and NEA member Margaret Cagle of Los Angeles, who now finds herself penalized for leaving the private sector to become a teacher.

The group highlighted the importance of this bill that repeals the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which causes millions of public employees to lose a significant share of their Social Security benefits earned in previous careers. Approximately 300,000 individuals lose an average of $3,600 a year due to the GPO, an amount that can make the difference between self-sufficiency and poverty.

"I'm sure that there are many professionals, like me, who would choose to make a difference in young people's lives if they could afford to make that choice," said Cagle, a middle school teacher and recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science. "As a second-career teacher I will be penalized when I retire. Most of my retirement contributions to Social Security, from my first career, will simply disappear in a tangle of arcane laws."

"Our teachers and education support professionals are committed to providing every child with a quality public education," said Weaver.  "It is only fair that we match this commitment and ensure secure retirements for them."

NEA supports programs that provide opportunities for educators to live in retirement with dignity. Recruiting and retaining high-quality education professionals cannot be done without offering a complete compensation package. This includes competitive, professional salaries, quality healthcare and a secure retirement.
 
More information is available in the Legislative Action Center area of the NEA Web site .

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2  million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.