MI Democrats selectively consider pension benefits in education funding

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By Tom Gantert | Michigan Capitol Confidential

Top Michigan Democrats are being inconsistent on whether paying for teacher retirement benefits qualifies as a classroom expense.

Their position seems to depend upon the political circumstance of the moment.

In May 2012, Robert McCann, spokesman for the Senate Democrats, criticized Republicans for asking teachers to pay more to cover their retirement costs. He said the pensions were earned by teachers with “a lifetime of hard work in the classrooms.”

In 2012, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, talked about retirement costs of teachers and described teachers as ”the same people who played by the rules, negotiated for their compensation, which included retirement.”

However, Democrats now claim the $404.4 million applied in 2013-14 to pay the cost of Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System benefits is not a classroom expense.

at Michigan Capitol Confidential.

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