The Truth About A Small Town Teacher's Pension

In today's challenging economic climate, not a day goes buy that an article about "Golden Retirement Packages" for public servants doesn't appear in a newspaper or on a TV news show. It is the misinformation in many of these articles that compels me to write this letter.

As a newly retired member of the teaching profession in the state of Massachusetts in the town of Holliston, I live within the following plan

-As a retired Holliston teacher, my pension from the MTRB (Massachusetts Teachers Retirement Board) is funded soley by myself with an 11% contribution from each of my paychecks. This pension is also solely funded by all teachers in the state of Massachusetts who are still working. The taxpayers of the town of Holliston and the state of Massachusetts have not contributed one penny toward our monthly retirement pay. This payment is not taxed by the state of Massachusetts as long as I reside in this state or one of the few states that do not collect any state income tax.

-Any other retirement income (ex. 403 B accounts, savings, part time job salaries, etc) that I make does not receive this tax free benefit.

-Teachers in Massachusetts are not permitted to pay into Social Security. Period.

-My share of my health insurance monthly premium with Harvard Pilgrim is $258. The Town of Holliston does pay the other 50% of the monthly premium .This is a "perk" that many in the public feel is too generous. Why aren't retired teachers put on Medicare? Well, I (and all teachers hired before 1985) were prohibited from contributing to the Medicare portion of social security. It is important to note that if I was eligible to contribute to Medicare, the town of Holliston would have been required to pay 6.2% of my payment into Medicare.

-The town of Holliston's portion for monthly health insurance premiums for all of it's employees (teachers, police, fire fighters, etc) is a negotiated percentage and as such , can be renegotiated during contract negations' with each group.

-My monthly premium for dental insurance is$45.92. The town of Holliston does not subsidize any dental plans for any of its' employees.

I would like the public to understand the facts about their teachers' retirement situation before they make a decision to change any part of it (especially health insurance) based on erroneous information.

I am proud to have served the students of Holliston as a teacher for over 34 years and do not regret having chosen teaching as my lifelong profession. My husband has also taught and coached in Holliston for over thirty years and will retire this fall. He is part of the Holliston teachers' union that voted to give back 4 days worth of pay to the town of Holliston in the form of 4 work furlough days. This agreement may now cost him a decrease in his monthly pension. Our two sons have graduated from the Holliston School system and gone on to study at top ranked colleges largely in part to the wonderful teachers they had in the Holliston Public School system. Over the years I have seen that the town of Holliston cares about providing its students with a top notched education largely paid for with taxpayers' significant real estate taxes.

So here is what I need every taxpayer to understand I am not getting rich in retirement on any taxpayer's money. I am paying the same high monthly premiums for health insurance that many of you are paying and I do not have the "safety net" of Medicare to fall back on. I am also paying the same hefty real estate taxes, gas bills, food bills, etc to which all of you are subjected. I have had to learn to live within my means my entire working life and never thought I'd be a rich retired teacher. What I did think was that taxpayers would value the job I did with their children and honor the labor agreements that their elected officials signed. I do not think that is too much to ask for.

Lorraine Jensen Boles

192 Holliston Street

Medway, Ma 02053

508-429-5770

The Truth

Posted By:Tad

Posted On: 3/27/2011

What Lorraine fails to mention is what percentage and what age she retired at. I certainly know that there is no way I am going to be able to retire at possibly 80% of my highest 3 years, much less at less than 60 years old. I believe teacher can get to 80% in their late 50's. You might not be getting rich but you are getting to enjoy it mcuh earlier than the rest of us.

You mention 11%... what that 11% for your whole career or when you took the early retirement incentive from the state.

You also mention no taxpayer dollars. The superintendent mentioned that teacher's retirement is supported by the state, un-like county retirement which is supported by the cities and towns. So, maybe Holliston tax dollars are not going directly towards supporting your pension, but the state tax dollars are, of which we are all apart of.

Maybe someone should do a freedom of information request of the town/schools to see how much Lorraine got paid her last 3 years and see if she should be crying poor mouth after all. I'm going to see if I have the last 3 years annual reports... her salary information will be there.

By the way, how do you have a Medway address but your children were Holliston educated. Some side deal maybe?

teacher's retirement

Posted By:Ira

Posted On: 3/27/2011

wow! harsh words. i don't see lorraine crying poor, but rather, letting folks know that she certainly isn't rich and wasn't planning on it from being a teacher.
yes, there is public funding for public school employees including pension monies from the state. what's wrong with that? if someone puts in their 30+ years, do they not deserve a reasonable pension when they retire?

as for her address- maybe she recently moved, or maybe her kids went to holliston schools via school choice as many do?

i know that the previous poster was probably throwing a flame and i bit on it but that's fine. comments like those shouldn't be ignored.

thanks so much mrs. boles. my daughter was lucky enough to have you as a teacher and my family appreciated you then and we do today.

Teacher's Pension

Posted By:John O'Callahan

Posted On: 3/27/2011

Tad, I believe that before you bash teachers for retiring with a pension or for working 14 hour days you should at least research your facts. For over 20 years now there have been what is called "Schools of Choice". A town can elect to be a school of choice and students can elect to attend the Holliston Schools if there is room. There are no back door agreements. It is all out in the open. It is very difficult to retire before age 62 and have completed 38 years of service. If you don't believe me you can find that information on the MTRS site. It is true that about 8 years ago there was an incentive to increase your retirement contribution to 11% in order to retire earlier. It should be noted that most teachers now are contributing 11% each paycheck. In closing I would like you to know that I personally know Mrs. Boles and she was a fantastic and caring teacher who was honored with an outstanding educator award. I will give you one more fact: during her 34 years as a teacher over 4000 students have have passed by her desk. What a wonderful legacy to have such a positive impact on so many people's lives. I hope that what you do for a living is as impactful.

Mrs. Boles

Posted By:Matt

Posted On: 4/25/2012

I don't think anyone has claimed she has gotten rich off of her work. In fact, many teachers are not wealthy. However, the pensions that teaching retirees receive are far greater than what those in the private sector receive by-and-large and those people in the private sector are what fund the majority of teacher's pay. See where the outrage can come from?

Mr. O'Callahan mentions 14 hour days. I'm sure teachers have put in these kinds of hours, but his allusion is that they do this regularly. That means they work from 6am to 8pm regularly? I'd be hard-pressed to find a teacher that worked 14 hours in more than 3 days in a calendar year -- of which they get summers off, holidays, snow days, Christmas break, Feb vaca, April vaca, etc. off. If a teacher works 200 days during the year, including courses and seminars, this is a lot. That's equivalent to 12 weeks vacation in the private sector.

See where this is going? The people paying the paychecks of teachers work more and receive fewer benefits. There is no doubt teachers are valuable, but when someone complains that they pay $258/month for a good health plan, and I pay 5 times this for a lesser plan, crying poor, or even average makes me pause (at best).

Teachers need to choose: Are they doing it for the money? Or are they doing it for the joy of it, as most claim. If so, they should stop complaining about their way-above-average compensation on other peoples' dimes.