Retirement plan bill killed

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 14, 2009

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Legislation that would require charter schools to participate in the state teachers’ retirement system died in a House committee Wednesday.

Tom Tate, a lobbyist for the Louisiana Association of Educators, said charter schools are public schools and all public schools are required to be part of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana, called TRSL.

Charter schools are freed from the traditional red tape of public schools systems in order to offer innovative teaching methods.

Tate said when charter schools were getting started in Louisiana, it was expected that they would become part of TRSL because the benefits are better than Social Security or private retirement plans, like a 401(k).

But state Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, said Tate wasn’t really pushing House Bill 156 for the benefit of teachers but for the benefit of TRSL.

Currently, schools contribute 15 percent of their teachers’ retirement. About 7 percent is used for the employee’s pension benefit. The other 8 percent goes to pay down debts for previous unfunded benefits, called a UAL.

“The real issue is you’d like to pull them in there to get that extra 8 percent to pay down that UAL,” Downs said.

TRSL Director Maureen Westgard questioned the ability of charter schools to receive public money but not participate in the public retirement system.

Opponents of HB156 said charter schools were created on two basic tenants — autonomy and choice.

About 75 percent of the charter schools in the state, mostly the larger charters, already participate in TRSL, said Kenneth Campbell, director of charter schools for the Department of Education.

But each charter should have the choice to decide what benefits meet the needs of their teachers and the teachers they want to attract, he said.

Officials with charter schools, mainly in the New Orleans area, told the House Retirement Committee they opt to provide other plans to offer portability for teachers who may want to leave the state in future years.

Some schools also would rather spend their money in other areas, like higher pay, as opposed to paying into the state system, directors said.