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WEAC is working in the Legislature this session to improve
retirement benefits for Education Support Profession-als.
As part of its Legislative Agenda, WEAC supports passage of legislation
to improve the way retirement benefits are provided to ESP by making the
following changes:
Background
Under current law, to become covered under the WRS, an individual must
work for a covered employer at least one-third of what is considered to
be full-time employment. For all WRS participants, other than teachers,
librarians, and administrators, the Department of Employee Trust Funds
(DETF) defines full-time employment to be 1,904 hours per year and one-third
employment to be 600 hours per year. In contrast, for teachers, librarians,
and administrators, DETF defines full-time employment to be 1,320 hours
per year and one-third employment to be 440 hours per year.
This difference in calculating creditable service toward retirement has
the effect of requiring ESP to work longer than other educational staff
to become eligible for contributions to be made to the WRS.
Why WEAC supports this change
WEAC believes that Wisconsin’s public schools are great when they
maintain the highest quality staff. An important part of maintaining quality
staff is to offer them a retirement benefit that is an incentive to spend
an entire career in public service.
History
Past improvements for Wisconsin’s schools and ESP occurred because
generations of WEAC members made them happen.
A recent example of an improvement for ESP was approval of a retirement
benefit increase for public employees in Wisconsin.
WEAC was the driving force behind legislative approval of the single
largest retirement system benefit increase in state history. The law,
which was the bipartisan product of years of negotiations and cooperation
between labor and governmental groups, provides a 10% increase in pensions
for past service and makes various other improvements in the WRS.
Additional changes, however, are needed to modify how the WRS treats
ESP.
Fairness issue
WEAC believes all its 93,000 members should be treated equally under the
WRS. The WEAC membership includes more than 15,000 Education Support Professionals
who perform a tremendous variety of tasks every day. ESP are the secretaries,
teacher aides, bus drivers, custodians, and cooks employed in public K-12
schools and technical colleges. They play an important role in providing
every kid with a great school.
If schools are to maintain the highest quality ESP, their creditable
time in service should be calculated the same as all other education professionals.
This improvement will provide an incentive for ESP to stay in public service
for their entire careers maintaining overall quality and experience among
staff.
As stated in the WEAC Legislative Agenda: “ESP members transport
students to and from schools, and look after their safety and well-being
while they are in school. They play critical roles in ensuring that students
are ready to learn in classrooms that work. Many make their principal
contribution to students’ education by helping to keep schools running.
ESP create and maintain records, maintain physical plant and grounds,
and care for computer systems. Their time spent in public service should
be given the same level of respect as all other professionals in public
service.”
For more information about the WEAC Legislative Agenda, go to the At the Capitol area of OnWEAC, under News & Information. You also may contact WEAC Legislative Program Coordinator Bob Burke at 800-362- 8034, extension 254 or by e-mail at burkeb@weac.org.
Posted April 4, 2003