As a veteran teacher in Georgia, a non-union state, I see Mike Petrilli's latest article ("Older teachers for Clinton, younger teachers for Obama?") has hit on one of the big facts about teacher salaries, unions, and retirement: they're all based on the fact that most young teachers won't make it.
In four years, 40 percent of the teachers who began their teaching careers this year won't be in the profession. Really no other profession out there that requires a college degree has that kind of turnover. In a lot of states, young teachers won't have the right to access their retirement contributions when they leave. In states where they can get them, they just get the funds they put in, but no interest. In no state will they ever get the matching contributions that their employers paid into the retirement system. The funding of teacher retirement is based on contributions made by people who never come close to drawing any benefit.
I am always amazed by the antics I see senior teachers go through to do anything to raise their salary the final two years they're teaching, so as to raise their retirement check. In Georgia, and probably most other states, all income a teacher receives from the school district is counted as teacher pay. I've seen teachers who have worked over 28 years volunteering for summer school, after-school programs, returning as assistant coaches, getting a doctorate from an online university, even going on the bus driver list--because they'll see 60 cents out of every dollar they make the last two years every month for the rest of their lives.
Dave Taggart
Chatsworth, Georgia