[Unsanctioned Commentary]
Your Governor spoke with Bob Gibson on WVTF this past Tuesday, Febraury 1. I heard his lecture while on my way home from parent/teacher conferences around 7:30pm.
One of Governor McDonnell's first callers was a teacher in higher education (perhaps in the community college network). She was letting the Governor know that higher education instructors had been frozen out of any recent wage increases. (Listen around the 11 minute mark)
The Governor apparently misinterpreted the caller's background and launched into a long VRS lecture.
He volunteered that the State of the Commonwealth did not allow him the opportunity to speak about the plight of K-12 teachers. Then he went right to VRS.
It's $17.6 billion underfunded. By 2014, it will be funded at 61% (bad news). He claimed that he will try to get it fixed, and he will not pass the problem along to the next Governor. He said that "IOU" the truth. Teachers currently pay NOTHING (his emphasis) and with "a little bit of sacrifice to pay a little bit more" he can right the VRS ship.
It was at that point that I began hurling expletives at the North Lake Drive hill. I'm sorry. The hill shouldn't have had to hear that sort of language coming out of my mouth; neither should my car nor neighbors.
The fact is that the REASON the VRS program is in jeopardy is that the State KNOWINGLY and WILLFULLY starved then robbed the system.
The "reforms" that the Governor supports, which would basically turn VRS into a "Defined Contribution" program, would NOT address the short funding issue. What needs to happen is for the Commonwealth to partake on a path to restore their advised JLARC contributory levels over the next twenty or so years. If they do that, the program would have NO solvency problems.
Which brings me to "just a little sacrifice"....
Why is it that I, a public school teacher for the past 29 years, have to sacrifice when no one else does? Look at our country. Right now, we are involved in two wars, one is winding down. How much have the American people sacrificed? (Other than those actually directly involved). It's the same with VRS.
I recall that when times were good back in the early 2000's, our local school board was already putting away assets and saving up for a rainy day. Big raises...nope...gotta save. Then the economy turned south. $17 million was cut from our budget. Salaries were frozen. Class sizes increased as 150 positions were eliminated. Good times became make-up times. Bad times became dark times.
The sad point is that THIS IS THE WAY IT HAS BEEN over the past thirty years. We, the employees, rarely get the goose. There's always something, some sacrifice-a building, a shortfall; something to derail anything beneficial for us. We have been bred to be second class citizens.
When the Governor told the listeners that teachers need to give "just a little sacrifice" I felt that he ripped what was left of my heart out. I've very little left to give. I'm just a stump. Stumps are good for sitting on, you know?
~Thom
