Overspending on administration

Overspending on administration

According to the Brook- ings Institution of Washington, D.C., Ohio ranks 9th in the nation in the amount of budget spent on school administration while ranking 47th in the amount of budget allocated to the classroom. Recently, I discovered that five administrators (superintendant, treasurer and three principals) in the South Range District where I live do not pay their 10 percent contribution to STRS — it is paid on their behalf by the district and then added to their total compensation.

By my rough calculation, this is costing our district in excess of $40,000 a year. I was told by our treasurer that this is common practice in all of Mahoning County and indeed in much of the state of Ohio. Why? I do not know a single private sector employee who is so valuable that their employer pays the employees share of their Social Security deduction.

It is time to reconsider the plan proposed by the regional chamber to consolidate school district administrations. You could easily have Canfield, South Range and Leetonia and/or Columbiana administered by a single superintendant and treasurer. Ditto Poland, Springfield and Lowellville.

It is also time for school boards to start exercising the fiduciary duties they were elected to perform by eliminating the overly generous benefits and perks bestowed upon school officials. Until benefit and compensation packages are adjusted so that they more closely resemble those of the residents paying for them, I predict that levies will continue to fail.

Rich Ferenchak, North Lima

Not living the high life on $879

The School Employees ReTire- ment System is a defined benefit (DB) plan. With a DB, members receive a known, fixed amount for life. SERS was established in 1937 by an act of the Ohio General Assembly to provide pensions and benefits to Ohio’s non-teaching public school employees.

SERS has about 191,000 active and retired members. The average monthly pension is $879. Ohio is a non-Social Security state. Like Ohio’s other public employees, SERS’ members do not pay Social Security or qualify for Social Security benefits. Members rely on SERS to provide a service retirement benefit, disability protection, and survivor benefits.

Public pensions are good for Ohio taxpayers for every $1 in taxpayer money invested in SERS’ pensions last year, $1.52 was returned to local economies. Funding public pensions is less expensive than maintaining individual 401(K) accounts, and the investment returns are consistently greater.

Public pensions are good for Ohio’s economy. SERS paid nearly a billion dollars through pension payments and health care spending in FY 2009. With 91 percent of SERS’ benefit recipients living in Ohio, about $850 million is reinvested back into the state’s economy each year.

Public pensions are good for Ohio employees and employers. They help make up for the lack of Social Security available to public employees in Ohio. Most public employees pay 10 percent of their earnings to help fund their own pensions.

Ron Dull, Youngstown

The writer is an Ohio AFSCME retiree, Chapter 1184.

Death penalty has biblical basis

The March 27 letter, “No. 1 killing is not an honor,” shows a misunderstanding of what the scriptures actually say about capital punishment. The scripture says that someone who takes another life must forfeit his own life by the action of men. Scripture also says that if a punishment against a crime is not quickly taken that men will set their hearts on doing evil.

The New Testament confirms this by saying that the government does not bear the sword in vain and that those who do what is right have nothing to fear.

Another point is that people talk about the criminal but then fail to remember the victim, who received no mercy and is quickly forgotten.

My experience, as a chaplain in the super max prison in Youngstown for 31/2 years taught me first hand about the death sentence as I visited about 200 inmates on death row those years.

Many were repentant and had converted to Christ and admitted that they deserved to die because they took another persons’ life. They were at peace with their sentence of death and had received forgiveness from God but accepted the judgment of death from men.

I met one death row inmate who told me that he was a on death row for 10 years before he was willing to admit the truth.

Later on I participated in a meeting with an inmate and the family of the victim and was astonished at the result of the meeting. The inmate told the family what happened and wept and asked for their forgiveness. They also wept and told him that they forgave him. I and those with me were also in tears seeing that a hardened criminal could change and that the victim’s family could forgive.

Finally, I remember the last words of an inmate before his execution and he said that he was sorry and deserved to die, but that he had trusted Jesus and was at peace. He also asked the family for forgiveness and accepted his fate with peace and respect for the family.

We don’t rejoice in the death penalty, but it is necessary, not for closure but for justice in this life. God will deal with justice in the next.

Leo Feher, Youngstown

Defending the indefensible

Well, here we go again. A few weeks ago there was a letter from someone defending the money that the workers got from GM, and going on and on about the bonus checks.

To me the letter writer sounded like a spoiled brat, going nah-nah, I got it and you didn’t. I would like that letter writer to take a good hard look at the other people who work hard for their money too. Hard work? I’ve seen the plant on TV. Clean, well lit, warm.

And this Valley would survive without Lordstown. Why? Because there are so many other great companies that make up the greater workforce in this Valley who would make it work.

How about the workers who worked on your car, or towed your car out of a ditch in a foot of snow? The nurse, who held a family member’s hand during a medical situation? The fast food worker who had to smile as you had a meltdown because you got pickles?

I know workers who haven’t gotten a pay raise in five years, and they pay their own medical from their $8.50 an hour jobs. And they don’t get a hand out from the government. So GM should have paid back all the taxpayers money they received.

Also, think about the soldier, police person, teacher, grocery bagger, and the mail person who delivers your mail in crappy weather. And for working hard, how about the water department people who are down in holes filling with freezing water? Or better yet, the garbage worker who picks up your trash. Let’s add the school bus driver, retail workers, and newspaper deliverers.

Before GM workers complain about what they gave up, they should be grateful that they have that $30-an- hour job.

Edna Gillam, North Lima