The budget just passed by the NC General Assembly eliminates retiree health benefits for teachers and all state employees hired after January 2021. What will be the impact of this major change in state employee benefits?
Guests:
Richard Rogers, Executive Director, NC Retired Governmental Employees Association
Ardis Watkins, Legislative Affairs Director, State Employees Association of North Carolina
Dr. Anthony Jackson, Superintendent, Vance County Schools
Justin Parmenter, 7th Grade Teacher, Waddell Language Academy, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
RESOURCES
EdLines:
Takeover of low-performing public schools (use classroom photo)
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article159975234.html
Drivers Ed Unchanged
https://www.reflector.com/News/2017/07/06/Driver-s-ed-remains-unchanged.html
NC joins lawsuit against Betsy DeVos
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/business/dealbook/massachusetts-betsy-devos-lawsuit.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
Interview segments:
News stories on retiree health benefits elimination
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article157928844.html
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article159257319.html
Justin Parmenter op-ed in News & Observer “A loss of retiree health care benefit could worsen NC’s teacher shortage”
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article158500899.html
Lindsay Wagner op-ed in Asheville Citizen-Times “Eliminating benefits for future teachers won’t help NC”
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/2017/07/08/eliminating-benefits-future-teachers-help-nc/103531404/
Taking care of health has become the essential part of our life. We all want to live longer in order to have time to achieve what we have planned. But without health benefits for the retiree, the society will meet some challenges. On the other hand, it is good that the cancellation will only be in power from 2021, so the graduates who want to become teachers will have time to come up with a savings plan for the future. Thanks for the very informative videos and the article.