Fighting for our fair share

If you were teaching in 1977 when the Government Pension Offset was first enacted, you might have been concerned that you would no longer qualify for your spouse’s survivor benefits. Like me, you were probably incredibly busy with teaching and family. Retirement seemed a long way off.

If you were teaching in 1983 when the GPO changed to a two-thirds reduction from a dollar-for-dollar reduction, you might have been relieved that some progress had been made. You also might not have paid much attention to the enactment of the Windfall Elimination Provision that same year. Retirement was still a long way off.

In the 1990s, however, retirement became a reality for thousands of educators across the country. The GPO and the WEP hit home.

In 2001, the NEA Representative Assembly decided that the repeal of the GPO and the WEP should be a top legislative priority.

Congress will undoubtedly be discussing Social Security reform during the upcoming session. The repeal of the GPO and the WEP need to be part of this reform. Enough of us have retired that the impact of these provisions is clearly understood. The national teacher shortage and the push to attract people from other professions to become teachers will help. GPO and WEP will affect them if they become vested in a public pension system. Finally, the downturn of the economy and retirement nest eggs make repeal even more critical. We are simply asking for a fair and equitable share of the money we or our spouses have contributed to the system.

Missouri NEA is calling for the Missouri legislature to adopt a concurrent resolution urging Congress to repeal the offsets. You can help by writing your congressional representative until we get the entire Missouri delegation as co-sponsors. If you need more information, go to www.nea.org and click on Social Security. An excellent videotape on this issue is also available upon request through your MNEA UniServ office.

By Martha Karlovetz
MNEA-Retired president