by Ralph Hess
Recently a group of 37 School district employees were honored at a retirement party held at the main library. It was a diverse group of retirees: bus drivers, mechanics, technicians, teachers, department heads, principals and a senior administrator -- a happy event for all, but happier for some than for others. Money was the factor.
You see, some of the retirees were handed cash bonuses called "sick leave and vacation hours payout". One retiree, an administrator, was given $107,374.16. Others received lesser amounts depending upon their pay grade and how they had played their career cards. These cash settlements were made in addition to their earned monthly pensions.
The figures provide interesting reading, food for thought and dire concern for the future.
BOSS AVERAGE: $97,816
Three administrators received $293,445 for an average of $97,816. Fourteen teachers received $165,684 for an average of $ll,835. Twenty non-teaching career employees received $111,597 for an average of $5,580.
The total, $570,726 was paid in compensation for "sick leave and vaction hours" allegedly unused by employees during their terms of employment. These handouts are legal under Florida School Laws which date way back to 1939, and have provided little pots of gold for thousands of retiring school administrators since that time.
Apparently our legislators have never felt that "sick leave" is benevolence enough in its basic purpose of saving employees from disastrous financial loss of pay during times of sickness or injury which keeps them away from their jobs, and should be allowed to accrue only for that purpose. To make accrued "sick leave" a retirement annuity cannot be supported by any economic logic whatsoever.
REALLY NO VACATION?
The same goes for vacation -- it has a basic purpose, a respite from the strain of work, to refresh the employee for the coming year. When school administrators claim that they have gone years without a vacation, they invite derisive laughter.
Administrators enjoy 52 days per year plus week ends away from their desks. As in the case of "sick leave," pure logic will not support converting accrued vacation time to a retirement annuity -- nor will school finances for much longer.
If a two-month crop of retirees in one Florida school district reaps a half million dollars under the ploy of "sick leave and vacation payout," what must be the total annual payout of all 67 school districts in Florida? Think about it.
MORE LIMITS NEEDED
Recent action by the Florida Legislature, HB 1383, served only to limit these easy-buck retirement annuities to a total of 120 days of accrual for employees hired after July 1st, 1995. Thousands of Florida educrats, protected by the grandfather clause, will continue to line up at the pay table for their share of the fat until well into the 21st century.
Your pressure upon our representatives may persuade them to do their duty to constituents by abolishing completely retirement (or terminal leave) payouts of "sick and vacation" hours. Call them. Let them know that your future vote depends upon such action.
And here are their local office phone numbers: