School District President Defends Plan Not To Make Teachers Pension Payment
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- President of the Quakertown Community School District, Paul Stepanoff defended their plan not to make the next required payment to the pension plan for teachers in the district, citing the cost of the payment.
Stepanoff told Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, that the district cannot afford to designate such a large portion of their budget to fund teacher's retirement.
"The burden of the teachers crisis, the pension system crisis has reached just an intolerable level. It's a tremendous amount of money, about 30 percent of the salaries we pay today and still growing. This is money that doesn't go to the children, doesn't go to facilities, doesn't do anything to help educate our kids, and has grown from being, maybe, two or three percent of salaries to 30 percent of salaries in just the last five or six years. It's a tremendous burden."
He wants the teachers to accept a retirement package that he sees as more financially viable for the district.
"I am all for a fair system and a fair system needs standard economic rules and standard economic rules are if you have a low risk system, it's also a low yield system. If you have a high risk system, it's a high yield system. That's what a 401k is. You don't need to put your money at risk, but then you don't get a big return."
Stepanoff rejected a compromise proposed by Governor Wolf, saying it does not go far enough to curb the amount they would have to pay teachers.
"He's saying keep the plan exactly the way it is, but anything you earn over $100,000 then that portion will go into a 401k plan. Well, most teachers in Bucks County and Montgomery County, about the maximum is $100,000. So basically, his plan is only going to affect principals and administrators that make more."
