I'm so sorry about your governor (Frankfort, Columbia: 2015, schools, calculated)

[Oldhag1]

Originally Posted by OldClothesandSuch

Im moving to KY from your governors home state (NH) - Ill be honest, I dont mind him so much. Sure he says some dumb things, but dont you sometimes?

Being a property owner in KY - my concerns are valid regarding the tax increases to fix the pension problem.
Where were all of you who are complaining about it now, over the last 15-20 years when your pension was being slowly eroded away? Am I the only one that pays attention to state and local budgets? I mean, you cant blame the guy for wanting to fix literally the BIGGEST pension problem in the country.

And for whatever its worth - KY teachers are 7th best paid in the country. The pension was intended to supplement a fair salary. Now that their salaries are beyond fair (they get paid the same as teachers in states that have a much higher cost of living) - isn't it only fair to fix the pensions? Most private sector jobs dont have pensions, they have 401Ks. My husband has both because hes in a skilled labor union - our 401K had a 30% return last year. Not too shabby.

Public sector workers are delusional if they think they will get rich in public sector jobs. (I ask the same question of elected officials, but thats an entirely different conversation)

Kentucky teacher pay is ranked 27th in actual dollars. What just tossing out those numbers doesn’t explain is what happens if you take Jefferson County (Louisville), by far the largest employer of teachers in the state, out of the mix. Do that and the state teacher average drops from $51K to $45K, placing Kentucky in the 43rd position, similar to its cost-of-living placement. What most people fail to realize is that while JCPS is sitting pretty with an average salary of $63,300, there are multiple Eastern and Western KY counties where the average teacher salary is between $41-43,000. Interestingly, those Eastern and Western Kentucky counties teacher have more experience, on average. I could write a dissertation on the topic, explaining why JCPS has no choice but to pay so much, but that is a whole other topic. Let’s leave it with they are close enough to two other states that they are competing with better paying states, along with some additional reasons, and despite their high pay still struggle to put qualified teachers in the classroom. The bottom line is teacher salaries outside of JCPS, while decent to okay, are not “more than fair” overall.

Kentucky’s Teacher Retirment System does need a major overhaul. But, and this is a huge but, it can’t be changed meaningfully as long as Kentucky insists on keeping its teachers ineligible for Social Security. Everyone talks about those big pensions without considering that teacher will get zero dollars in Social Security, including those who have worked other jobs and paid into it. Again, a topic I could write a dissertation about. Bevin wants to change Kentucky’s teachers to a system like Virginia’s, which would be fine except he wants to do it while still not allowing them to participate in Social Security. The reason for this is that he and state legislators don’t want to pay the employer’s share of the Social Security contributions.

[kygman]

The teachers in Kentucky can't receive any Social Security. They depend on their state pension to get by on. A study was done on 401ks for teachers and other state workers and most would run out of money around the age of 80.

[marino760]

Well the KY governor certainly put KY in the national news. I just drove to the grocery store here in CA and it's all they talked about on the radio station I was listening to.

[otterhere]

Originally Posted by OldClothesandSuch

Im moving to KY from your governors home state (NH) - Ill be honest, I dont mind him so much. Sure he says some dumb things, but dont you sometimes?

I'm also a native northerner who doesn't mind him and even think it's great that he's trying to fix this problem that's been ongoing for ten years and will go so far as to say I agree with a lot of what he's said about this situation. It's undoubtedly true that, if there were 1,000 teachers protesting in Frankfort that day, it's quite possible that one of their on average 30 students - that's 30,000 kids total - suffered some ill effect from being left home alone unattended because a parent couldn't take the time off work. Why his mind went "there," I can't say (even I thought that was weird), and it was unfortunate. I honestly think he was just having a bad day (his two passed bills were vetoed, and the rioters were being very annoying). But he should've just said, "Having a bad day; that was dumb."

It's only one more excuse for liberal Kentuckians to hate him, the first being simply that he's a northerner (many southerners are still sore about losing the Civil War), and the second being that he's a conservative. Like all recent protests, the usual players were behind it ultimately, engineering it for the usual reasons.

[marino760]

The take I got from listening about it on the radio here is that he's not doing anything wrong with trying to fix the problem but what he said was just wrong and not very bright.
Teachers here are well compensated and have a nice pension plan because they also don't receive SS and don't put money into it so it's the only retirement they can rely on. If their pension plan or pay raises are ever under attack, what they do is put another ballet initiative into play and have people vote on it. Almost all initiatives helping teachers pass and taxes are raised to cover the cost. Of course they don't come right out and say it's for pensions, it's always about helping the children.

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by otterhere

I'm also a native northerner who doesn't mind him and even think it's great that he's trying to fix this problem that's been ongoing for ten years and will go so far as to say I agree with a lot of what he's said about this situation. It's undoubtedly true that, if there were 1,000 teachers protesting in Frankfort that day, it's quite possible that one of their on average 30 students - that's 30,000 kids total - suffered some ill effect from being left home alone unattended because a parent couldn't take the time off work. Why his mind went "there," I can't say (even I thought that was weird), and it was unfortunate. I honestly think he was just having a bad day (his two passed bills were vetoed, and the rioters were being very annoying). But he should've just said, "Having a bad day; that was dumb."

It's only one more excuse for liberal Kentuckians to hate him, the first being simply that he's a northerner (many southerners are still sore about losing the Civil War), and the second being that he's a conservative. Like all recent protests, the usual players were behind it ultimately, engineering it for the usual reasons.

"Rioters"??

And I thought Bevin was awful for terming teachers "thugs"...

Moderator cut: - it was a bunch of teachers carrying signs and attempting to speak with their elected representatives. If you consider that to be a "riot", you've lived an extremely sheltered life.

You call it a "riot" - I call it democracy.

BTW, Kentucky is and was a border state which never seceded and was not part of the Confederacy, so I don't know why you're deflecting to the Civil War.

Bevin is resented not because he's from the North (although it's pretty apt to call him a "carpetbagger"), but because he's an outsider who does not have the best interests of Kentucky or Kentuckians at heart, and seems to have come here only to seek office as a step up the conservative national political ladder. He's certainly increased his national recognition by his recent indefensible insults of teachers.

Bevin's an opportunist, in my view, and I don't like seeing my state and its people used so blatantly.

[kygman]

Originally Posted by CraigCreek

"Rioters"??

And I thought Bevin was awful for terming teachers "thugs"...

it was a bunch of teachers carrying signs and attempting to speak with their elected representatives. If you consider that to be a "riot", you've lived an extremely sheltered life.

You call it a "riot" - I call it democracy.

BTW, Kentucky is and was a border state which never seceded and was not part of the Confederacy, so I don't know why you're deflecting to the Civil War.

Bevin is resented not because he's from the North (although it's pretty apt to call him a "carpetbagger"), but because he's an outsider who does not have the best interests of Kentucky or Kentuckians at heart, and seems to have come here only to seek office as a step up the conservative national political ladder. He's certainly increased his national recognition by his recent indefensible insults of teachers.

Bevin's an opportunist, in my view, and I don't like seeing my state and its people used so blatantly.

Thank you! I was going to reply myself but, with what I was wanting to put in my reply, I am sure I'd get another note from the moderator.
I tell everybody one thing you learn quick when you work for the state. There aint no way to put Commonwealth of Kentucky and common sense in the same sentence. No way!

[kygman]

Otterhere, like I put in an earlier post, for years the state legislature has been taking money out of the state retirement systems to cover debts in the budget. The workers and teachers didn't take the money, but Frankfort. Now that the retirement system is billions and billions in debt, they are taking money from the employees and teachers to make up the difference. The problem is what they are planning on fixing the budget isn't doing a thing to help the problem. I agree this has been a problem no matter what party is in power, but this is a problem both parties need to sit down and work out together. But that didn't happen. The state legislature brought a plan to the floor the last day of the legislature, giving no one a chance to read a single page of it, and they passed it. I've always said this about national and state politics. If they want to get things worked out. both side need to work together. It can happen!

[Pilot1]

I don't know Bevin at all as he was elected after I moved out of KY. The public worker Pension crisis has reached epic proportions in many cities, and states. It isn't just a KY issue. The politicians, AND the public sector unions are to blame, NOT the workers.

I do miss Jim Bunning however, great pitcher.

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by kygman

Otterhere, like I put in an earlier post, for years the state legislature has been taking money out of the state retirement systems to cover debts in the budget. The workers and teachers didn't take the money, but Frankfort. Now that the retirement system is billions and billions in debt, they are taking money from the employees and teachers to make up the difference. The problem is what they are planning on fixing the budget isn't doing a thing to help the problem. I agree this has been a problem no matter what party is in power, but this is a problem both parties need to sit down and work out together. But that didn't happen. The state GOP brought a plan to the floor the last day of the legislature, giving no one a chance to read a single page of it, and the Republican majority passed it. I've always said this about national and state politics. If they want to get things worked out. both side need to work together. It can happen!

Succinctly and clearly stated.

At one point, there was a proposal to have retired public employees pay back all their cost of living increases in order to "correct" the near deficit.

The last COL increase I received was eleven or twelve years ago, yet Frankfort, who caused the mess, wanted it back?? I don't think so.