Public Ed Employees and Retirees Don’t Vote. True or False?

 

            I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have heard local elected officials and, especially, state and federal legislators and candidates say, “Educators/Teachers don’t vote.”

            First, let’s be clear. There is still far too much confusion over the word “educators” and the idea of “public-ed employees/retirees.”  Neither are “teachers only.”  Educators and public-ed employees/retirees refer to all of our colleagues we work(ed) alongside of each day. They are our bus drivers, cafeteria staff, librarians, school nurses, custodians, counselors, classroom aides, office staff, maintenance staff, police officers, sign-language interpreters, administrators, and everyone else who devoted their careers to our public-school system.

            All of us are members of TRS of Texas, which is our pension fund—OUR Social Security--because we do not have the option of paying into Social Security while we’re working in Texas public schools. The initialism TRS stands for “TEACHER” Retirement System, but as I have said repeatedly, that is a misnomer our state legislators should have fixed long ago. It leaves out a large part of the System’s members who are/were not teachers, all of those I listed above.

            Let’s return to the “Do educators vote?” question again. What I have been told time and again is that the reason our affordable health care was stripped from us during the 2017 Texas Legislative Session and TRS retirees have not had a single COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) in 18 years is because “educators don’t vote.”

            If you are an educator—current or retired—DO YOU??

            The last TRS retirees to receive a COLA were those who retired on or before August 31, 2004. Look at the COLAs Social Security recipients have received since then (under the red line):

In January, they will be receiving an 8.7% COLA.  Those of us who retired on or after September 1, 2004, will be receiving the exact same check we have received since we retired.  Despite the historic rate of inflation. Despite the huge hit we took on our health insurance after that 2017 Legislative Session. Despite a $1500 deductible with no co-pay on medical care and prescriptions. Despite it all.  Not one COLA.

            I ask again:  If you are a current or retired educator, do you vote?  Have you voted yet?

            There are so many state and federal races on the ballot that have a DIRECT impact on our health care, our pensions, AND our schools. When you don’t vote, candidates and current elected officials see that, and many decide they do not have to do anything to improve our situation because…well…we don’t vote!

            At the end of this post, you will find information on everyone running for state office and his/her record on supporting public education and public educators.

But one race I boldly ask you to run to the pools for is the race for lt. governor. Our current lt. governor, Dan Patrick, is over the Texas Senate, and that body has been the primary one that has caused us to have such inferior health care and NO COLA IN 18 YEARS!

            Look at Patrick’s recent mailer:

JUST SAY NO!

With him, Politifact is a MUST!  See what this fact-checking website reports about Patrick’s teacher-pay-raise claims.

See how Texas fares—in 2022—on per-pupil funding.

Notice he claims to have done all of this, as if he IS the Texas Legislature. Is that how it works?  Are the decisions made really just a one-man vote?

Note there is NO mention of all of the other groups who make up “educators.” Why does he never mention our bus drivers, cafeteria staff, librarians, school nurses, custodians, counselors, classroom aides, office staff, maintenance staff, police officers, sign-language interpreters, administrators?  Nor does he mention the amount of Texas retired educators’ monthly pension checks. 

This is why:

Source: A Great Value for Texans, a TRS publication (The next edition will be published for the 2023 Legislative Session)

 

            October 20, Patrick posted this on his Twitter feed:

Roughly five days later, I received the mailer posted above from his campaign.  So which is it, Lt. Governor?  Are you promising another 13^th check OR are you promising an 18-years-in-waiting COLA?  I read it that we can expect BOTH since that’s what Patrick seems to be promising. (And, by the way, educators KNOW you cannot make a 13^th check permanent as decisions cannot be made now for future Texas legislatures—unless they become law.

            Educators—do you vote?  PLEASE say yes. 

Before you go to vote, study all of the candidates carefully and go on their RECORDS, not on their (often-unkept) PROMISES.
            For this one race—for lt. governor—I beg you to vote for Mike Collier.  We cannot afford any more broken promises!  Our homes, our health, and our well-being depend on it!

            And when you vote, PLEASE post your picture or a picture of the “I voted” sticker with the hashtag #educatorsvote on your social media. I voted on the first day, last Monday, and proudly posted #educatorsvote on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

When our elected officials start SEEING we vote, things will change.

NOTE: To see how all statewide candidates have been rated by Texans for Public Education, go here. You can see the simple ratings (Friendly, Neutral, or Unfriendly toward public education) or the full ratings, which include all of the data collected for members to study before voting on the ratings. 

THE LAST DAY TO VOTE EARLY IS THIS FRIDAY!  ELECTION DAY IS NEXT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8.

Chris Ardis retired in May of 2013 following a 29-year teaching career. She now works as a freelance writer and editor and is committed to education, educators, and students. Chris can be reached at cardis1022@aol.com. (Photo by Linda Blackwell, McAllen.)