Keep promises not money.

A new pension plan,“Keeping the Promise Plan”, has been released in place of the previous failing plan.

If passed, in the 2018 school year, a new retirement plan will be in effect for the teachers of Kentucky called the “Keeping the Promise Plan.” This plan saves money by going from pension retirement plans to 401(k). It will affect new and current teachers differently.

The “Keeping the Promise Plan” was announced by governor Matt Bevin on Wednesday to fix Kentucky’s current pension problem. “There’s a situation where the pension plan has not been properly funded. Legislators have taken money for their projects and other areas that are supposed to go into the pension system. Money has been diverted from the pension fund which means they will never be able to fully pay people’s pensions,” said Social Studies teacher, Nate Fulghum. Bevin inherited this problem since becoming governor. Now he’s doing something about it and proposing a new plan.

This plan creates a new funding formula. For teachers who are currently working, the pension plan will not increase the retirement age. However, money will be coming out of teachers accounts to go to the retirement fund. “The biggest thing I think most people are against is the three percent coming out of the employee’s checks to pay for health insurance for retirees. That’s a pretty big hit. It’s basically losing three percent of our pay next year,” said Troy Barr, athletic director.

Some teachers prefer the 401(k) plan over the pension plan because it puts you in charge of your money. “If I were a new teacher I would prefer the 401(k) plan because it makes you in charge of your money. We see what happens when you give your money to the government and let them manage it, they mess it up. If it’s a 401(k) plan,  you’re in charge of investing your money. You’re in charge of whether it does well or whether it does not,” said Barr.

The new plan mostly affects teachers depending on how long they’ve been teaching. For older teachers, they will have the option to retire earlier and keep the same benefits which is what most teachers will probably do. “It’s affecting me the same way it’s affecting most people. We’re eligible to retire at twenty-seven years and most people go past that. At twenty-seven years most people are around fifty. I think most people will retire at twenty-seven and go do something else which is what I’ll do,” said Troy Barr. Retiring at the twenty-seven year teaching mark will allow teachers to keep their same benefits.

Teachers who have five years or less are not affected by this and can finish out their careers with the past pension plan. As for teachers that have a little bit longer until they retire, they will be affected differently. “Where it really hurts I think are teachers that it’s going to be six, seven, eight, nine years until they retire. It affects them a little bit more. It’s going to reduce their pension some and they’re going to have to pay three percent of their salary into their healthcare system. It gets pretty expensive for them” said Barr.

One problem schools may run into as a result of this is a shortage of teachers. “It’s already hard to find new teachers now. We have a large number that choose to go out at twenty-seven until waiting until their fifty-five. It’s going to be catastrophic,” said Crystal Barr, guidance counselor.

Eventually, as a result of this, if less and less people are going into the education field a change will have to be made. “Personally, I would be strongly against either one of my daughters wanting to be a teacher. They’re getting ready to go into college and if one of them wanted to be a teacher I would have a very long talk with them. I just don’t see a benefit anymore. I think having a pension was a strong point and being able to retire in your early fifties was strong and they’re taking both of those things away,” said Troy Barr. As a result of the decreased benefits of becoming a teacher, the plan is very susceptible to change.