In reference to the Dec. 3 editorial, “Teachers key to success,” the subhead, “Attracting qualified educators vital to improving student outcomes,” is right on. And you mentioned that “Attracting exceptional teachers will require that they be paid.” Again, kudos. “And the Legislature must stop treating education funding as a necessary evil and embrace it as an investment in the future of the state and nation.” Absolutely top-notch. Well done.
However, the next sentence, “Lawmakers also must address a generous benefits system that leads many teachers to retire long before they reach the traditional retirement age,” was a total air ball. Oops. Every single teacher in the state of Washington belongs either to TRS Plan 2 (begun in 1977) or Plan 3 (begun in 1996). And both plans require teachers to be 65. Plan 1 teachers could retire at any age, but no one has gotten into that plan for 38 years.
Asking the Legislature to fix something that has already been fixed will not impress them. And it will cause some of them to disregard this entire editorial, and that would be a shame.