Shore's schools superintendents concerned about pension proposal

ANNAPOLIS State Sen. E.J. Pipkin thinks a proposal to shift half the cost of teachers' pensions from the state to the counties is not a result of school boards on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Pipkin, R-36-Upper Shore, and other members of the Shore's General Assembly delegation met with local school superintendents in Annapolis on Friday to discuss education funding, which turned to a discussion on teacher pensions.
As part of the next fiscal year budget, Gov. Martin O'Malley proposes having the counties split the costs currently picked up by the state for teacher pensions. O'Malley expects to offset the counties' additional financial burden in part through higher income taxes on those earning more than $100,000 a year.
Worcester County Superintendent Jon Andes said the superintendents are very concerned about the transfer of pensions back to the counties, and ultimately the schools districts. Andes said they are studying the proposal to determine just what the impacts will be if it is approved.
"But the reality is, at this point in time, we need every dollar we can to provide educational services for our children. And every dollar that goes someplace else is one less dollar for our kids," he said.
Andes said the transfer of teacher pensions most likely will lead to a reduction in funding for public schools.
Pipkin said he thinks the urban school districts like Montgomery and Prince George's counties and Baltimore City, are the cause of the state's educational budget problems. He said teacher salaries in those areas are much higher than the average on the Shore.
"The nine counties that are in this room, I believe, really aren't the abusers of the credit card that the state's been providing for pensions," said Pipkin to the Shore superintendents.
Pipkin said the General Assembly has watched as the teacher pension costs went from $400 million to well over $1 billion in the state budget. He said the urban counties continue to raise teacher salaries without any taking any responsibility for pension costs.
"I don't believe the nine systems that are in this room are in that mode," Pipkin said.
Pipkin said he plans to propose a bill holding only school districts paying teachers higher than average salaries responsible for covering the pension costs. He said that would have no impact on the Shore school districts.
Pipkin cautioned the Shore superintendents against fighting pension reform in lock-step with their urban counterparts, and Del. Norman Conway, D-38B-Wicomico, said some form of cost-sharing on pensions is necessary.
Conway, chairman of the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee, said the economy still has not rebounded and the counties continue to struggle. He said now is not the time for the governor's pension plan, but changing the proposal will be a tough sell.
"We might want to just look at starting with new employees and moving it and transitioning it in at some percentage rate. But I think there's a lot of study that needs to go into it before we get to a point of just arbitrarily transferring it," Conway said.
Dr. Memo Diriker, director of Salisbury University's Business, Economic and Community Outreach Network, discussed the importance of education funding for the Shore. Diriker said $1.5 billion is pumped into the Shore's economy due to education.
Diriker said economic development and education provide the top two returns on investment for the region. He said when it comes to government budgets, taxpayers press most for holding education and transportation infrastructure harmless from cuts.
"In most cases, most of the school systems on the Eastern Shore are the largest employers. So we truly are a big business," Andes said.