Pay bump for retired Texas teachers supported by voters

Texas’ retired teachers and public school employees are on track to receive a bump in their monthly pension checks as unofficial election returns show voters approving more than $3 billion to fund the cost-of-living increases.

There was more than 83% approval for the proposition as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to unofficial results.

Rita Runnels, who taught for 30 years and works as the chair of a Texas AFT retiree committee, gathered over Zoom with nine other retired educators from across the state to tune into the election night results.

Cheers erupted when they saw that early results overwhelmingly showed voters’ support for Proposition 9.

“We did this.” “Look at the lives of the many people that we’ve changed.” “This has been a long time coming.”

Maybe public school employees will finally get the respect that’s due, Runnels said.

The cost-of-living adjustment would allow Runnels to worry less about inflation or unexpected costs and pay bills and for medicine.

A pension increase would allow longtime educators such as Jeanne Paull-Turner, who spent the longest stretch of her more than 40 years in education teaching in Arlington, to worry less each month about finances.

It was her lifelong dream to become a teacher, but now her monthly checks aren’t keeping up with inflation as gas, food, medicine and other costs continue to increase.

“We desperately need this, and we need to motivate people to become teachers,” said Paull-Turner, adding that she worries the next generation of educators will be discouraged from the profession when taking retirement into consideration.

About 70% of retired public school employees in the state haven’t seen a cost-of-living adjustment in their pensions for nearly 20 years, said Tim Lee, the executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers Association.

With Texas voters’ approval, such retirees would finally see an increase in monthly checks.

“These results are a recognition of not only the service that the retirees gave to the state while they worked in our schools, but also a recognition that we’ve got to do more to help … with basic cost of living,” Lee said of the early results.

The bump in retirees’ checks will allow them to handle daily expenses, go to the doctor, get groceries, plan for the future and meet other financial needs, he added.

“It just makes their lives a little bit easier,” Lee said. “I think that’s why people showed up, it was the right thing to do.”

Proposition 9 would authorize the state to use about $3.3 billion to fund the cost-of-living adjustment, said Eli Melendrez, a researcher at the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers.

The move would not require an increase on Texans’ taxes because the money paying for the increases comes from the state’s general revenue, Melendrez noted. The funds that the state has already set aside will be transferred to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas to start providing the cost-of-living adjustments in January.

Retired teachers’ pensions would increase between 2% and 6% under the proposal. Nearly 476,000 retired educators received an average monthly payment of $2,174 in 2022, according to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

Under financial pressure to stretch their money, some retirees cut back on medical care and energy consumption, move in with relatives or go without home repairs, Lee said.

“At this point in time, they’re cutting back on life essentials,” he added.

Judy Bryant, who taught for more than 30 years in Texas, still works part-time jobs, like many other retirees. She currently works as a field organizer for the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans.

“Someday, I would like to be able to retire completely, and the cost-of-living adjustment would make that more of a possibility,” she said.

The proposal made it onto the statewide ballot after lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that took the cost-of-living adjustment request to Texas voters.

Benefits will be adjusted based on when the employee retired:

• Those who retired between Sept. 1, 2013, through Aug. 31, 2020, will get a 2% adjustment.
• Those who retired between Sept. 1, 2001, through Aug. 31, 2013, will get a 4% increase.
• Those who retired on or before Aug. 31, 2001, will get a 6% bump.

Eligible beneficiaries will also receive similar cost-of-living adjustments.

“It’s long overdue,” Texas AFT’s Melendrez said. “Everyone had a school teacher. … It’s super important at this point to give back to those people who spent, in some cases, upwards of 30, 40 years in the classroom.”

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