So now I have covered myself for whatever happens, and I hope that you will forgive me ahead of time. Maybe you won't even notice my errors since you are also a bit befuddled today.
Our meeting this month is on Thursday, March 19. As usual, although we start our meeting at 11:30, it is wise to get there as near 11 as possible if you want to avoid the line and have some time to visit with everyone. Actually, we are now such a convivial group that it seems an imposition to ask everyone to quiet down for the exceedingly short business meeting. Our April meeting, which has been switched with the program in May, will be much more informal. It is titled "Show and Tell" and everyone gets to share -- no formal speaker. I know you will enjoy it.
This month's program sounds interesting. "Musical Entertainment and Comic Relief for the Chronologically Gifted" is how it is described. Okay, I understand the first part, but who are the C.G.'s. Does that mean us? Perhaps it is referring to our great wisdom? If that is the case, it is good to have that positive spin. I say hooray for us!
Last month's speaker filled us in on some of the machinations of politics, Tallahassee style. Linda Edson is our FREA Representative there, a 2010 retired teacher. She made several points which I think are very important.
"Logic, common sense, and facts don't count," she said, when dealing with the
legislators. The House, she said, always votes along party lines, so there is not much chance of changing anyone's mind there. The Senate sometimes listens. Letter writing, emailing and phoning all work. The messages may not be read or heard, but they are tallied by office staffs.
Regarding FRS: Our present pension plan allows the FRS to make long-term investments. Changing to individual retirement accounts would negate those. The reason the retirement funds were unfunded during the recession was not so much because the investments lost money as it was that the funds paid in by the members of FRS were not put into FRS, but into the general fund. Even so, our pensions are rated well nationally and have the fund has grown a great deal now that the stock market has recovered.
Florida Education's future: When the Drop program was eliminated in 2011, many educators signed up in its last year who might have gone on teaching longer. In 2016 there will be a teacher shortage as those people retire. Numbers of students majoring in education are dropping which will contribute to the shortage.
Priorities for FREA: Edson said keeping FRS money from being put into the general fund, and letting new hires have a choice of Pension or "Defined Investment"
(their term for an IRA investment rather than the FRS) is another item. At present, the default program for new hires is FRS. If that is changed, some who really aren't paying too much attention might find themselves in the IRA program. Keeping the health insurance subsidy and the COLA which FREA fought for and won many years ago is another goal. Yes, even those last small items are in danger.
On the bright side, she thinks that maybe the new presidents of the Senate and the House will be more willing to listen to us. She reminded us that our FRS fund has more money than half of the world's countries and it is invested well and wisely.
Our neighbors, the Sarasota County Retired Educators, visited us at the meeting. They seemed to be interesting and interested. I had a surprising reunion with one of my students from Southeast H.S., Kathy Dring, who has retired from the Sarasota Schools.
We are still collecting food for the Manatee County Food Bank, children's books for FELT (Feeding Empty Little Tummies), and small items like soaps and shampoos etc. for gifts for shut-in seniors at Christmas. The MCREA Scholarships forms have been sent to the high schools and we eagerly await their return. The FREF Scholarship winner's application has been submitted to FREF and now we have our fingers crossed for her.
FREF door prize tickets are still available at meetings.
If you do not hear from your caller by Sunday of the week prior to our meeting, please call Mary Ann Jensen at 756-7603 at the latest to make a reservation. We had 112 reservations for the February meeting.
I will leave you with some pictures from Minnie Lee Jones,Social Affairs Chair.
 |
| St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Dr. Phyllis Omilak helps Clydie Mae Collins on the computer. |
 |
| Members and guests visit SMART Ron Schneider, Eileen Schneider, Sue Roe (holding the horse), Eugene Jones, Minnie Lee Jones, B.J. Jones, Ezra Mason, Mildred Owens, Deborah Thomas |
 |
| Strawberry picking at O'Brien Family Farms Mildred Owens and Minnie Lee Jones |
 |
| Minnie Lee Jones helps women use the new computers.
See you soon,
Ellen
|
