Jackson Cit Pat Misrepresents Teacher Benefits

Check out this article in the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Specifically, check out this paragraph (emphasis mine):

” While the ranks of state employees have been pared back in recent years, the benefits of school employees in particular have not been changed. Funding pension and health-care benefits for school employees has become so costly that nearly all of this year’s promised $200 per-pupil increase in state aid goes toward these costs. Here’s an example of why they are so costly: Teachers are given full health benefits for life after working only five years.”

This didn’t seem right to me, so I forwarded it on to some of my friends, who happen to be teachers. One of them sent me this pdf on teacher benefits.

Another contacted the editor of the Jackson Cit Pat and received this response (emphasis mine):

The information you question has also been questioned by a couple of other people. The original source for it was the 2004 Citizens Research Council report, which on page 10 makes this statement: “Currently, state law permits a public school employee to work as few as five full years to qualify for the full health benefit upon retirement.” We are in the process of trying to determine whether CRC stands behind that information, which has been frequently cited as an example of excess, or whether has been retracted. I’ll try to follow up and let you know one way or the other.

Thanks.
Ken Wyatt
VOP editor, editorial writer
Jackson Citizen Patriot
214 S. Jackson
Jackson MI 49204
517-768-4906

I’m curious as to when Jackson Cit Pat found out the CRC misinfo had been “frequently cited as an example of excess” … was that before or after they printed it?

Finally, here is a letter to Thomas Clay, Director of State Affairs for Citizen’s Research Council:

Dear Mr. Clay.
Attached is a dissertation concerning an article that appeared in the March 15 Jackson Citizen Patriot
newspaper. The article was condensed from your 2004 report. I feel the information was misleading. The report appears to be a very in depth study of the financial story of Michigan Teacher Retirement but I believe the conclusions in some areas are more dire than need be. My main question if about the comment that teachers could get full health benefits after only five years service. Believe me this was a hot topic amongst my colleagues when we were contemplating retirement and I am sure that is not true or at least misleading. I am including copies of this letter to the editor of the Jackson Citizen Patriot Newspaper as well as our MEA regional director. My main gripe is with the Jackson paper as I feel they left out some important facts and took some of the report out of context creating erroneous concepts.

(Download the referenced “attached doc” here)

Keep an eye out for more misinformation.