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SCREAch ~ owl
A Publication of the Somerset County Retired Educators Association – March 2015
EXECUTIVE BOARD Carol Shields President 908‐526‐3123 [email protected] Diane Lebbing 1st Vice President 908‐359‐2870 Gayle Curran 2nd Vice President 908‐753‐6820 [email protected] Robert Kapp Treasurer Government Relations 908 722‐7715 [email protected] Donna Emanuelli Recording Secretary 732‐356‐1926 [email protected] COMMITTEE PEOPLE Barbara Andrews Past President 908‐782‐4007 Frank Curcio Government Relations 908 735‐4463 Annandale [email protected] Ginny Pasternak Membership 908‐755‐6932 [email protected] Skip (Fred)Emanuelli Member Benefits 732‐356‐1926 [email protected] Tom Arlotto Newsletter Chair 732‐875‐3195 [email protected] From the President’s Quill
Dear SCREA Members, Greetings to all and a special welcome to new members. Ginny Pasternak, SCREA Membership Chair, reports that, as of March 1, we have 943 members and hope to break 1,000 by the end of the year. This has been a busy winter for your SCREA officers and committee members. I am pleased to report that, under the expert direction of Frank Curcio, we finished the revisions of the SCREA constitution, as was required as part of the NJEA unification process, and our revisions have been sent to NJEA staff for review. We held our first MBOS (Member Benefits Online System) help session at the January Executive Board meeting. We will conduct another session in the fall. It is becoming more important than ever to register with MBOS online if you haven't already done so. The automated phone service is being phased out as Division of Pension employees retire and using MBOS will be the only way to avoid the long wait when using the phone to make pension or health benefit changes. To register for MBOS or log on to an account visit: http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/mbosregister.shtml. If you need help registering with MBOS or navigating the system, don’t hesitate to contact me. On February 21, eight SCREA representatives attended the annual NJEA Legislative and Political Action Conference. The focus was on the high‐stakes testing debate, but there were also panel discussions with legislators during which pensions and health benefits were discussed. See more details in the Government Relations report. Liza Kistler has resigned from her position of SCREA Recording Secretary and Donna Emanuelli has been appointed to serve in that position for the rest of the term. We are grateful to Liza for her many years of service to the SCREA. Please join us on May 6 for our spring meeting which will be held at Pheasant’s Landing. The meeting begins at 11:00AM and is followed by lunch and time to socialize. Our speaker will be Valerie Kazdahn , NJEA Associate Director of Research and Economic Services. Valerie will talk about our pension and health benefits and, after her presentation, she will take questions from the audience. Carol Shields SCREA President A Publication of the Somerset County Retired Educators Association — March 2015
TRIPS BY KEN
Government Relations There have been many questions regarding the Governor’s comments in his budget address regarding pension and health benefits. Be assured that the NJEA will never agree to reduce pension benefits for current retirees and will oppose legislation to pay for health benefits. The NJEA website offers a wealth of information on this issue and NJEA’s position. Go to NJEA.org Log in with your pin number (on membership card) and the last 4 digits of your social security number. This will bring you to the home page for NJEA. Click on Pension and Benefits Resources, there you will find a section toward the bottom of the page where there is a listing of resources such as the Governor’s remarks, NJEA’s response to the Commission Report, a Q & A section, a detailed PowerPoint presentation by Ed Richardson (NJEA’s Executive Director) explaining the process of the continuing dialog with the Commission, and other resources which will help you to understand NJEA’s discussions with the Pension and Benefits Commission. Those of us who attended the 2015 NJEA Walter J. O’Brien Legislative and Political Action Conference sat in on a panel discussion with legislators from Districts 14, 18 and 19. Most of the discussion focused on the PARCC testing and the use of the test scores to evaluate teachers and students. On the panel was Senator Linda Greenstein who co‐sponsored a bill to stop most high‐stakes uses of PARCC for three years. On February 23 this bill was passed in the Assembly. Now the Senate must pass its version of the bill. All four legislators agreed that funding pensions is a top priority and three of the four would support a constitutional amendment to require quarterly payment by the state into the pension fund. Keynote speaker at the plenary session was Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director at Fair Test, an education watchdog group. Both teachers and parents are concerned about the increased use of standardized testing throughout the county. More testing does not mean more learning and test preparation is cutting into valuable instructional time. What happens in the Statehouse affects all of us. That’s why when it comes to legislation and politics, it’s vital that NJREA members get educated, get organized and get involved. We are always looking for new Legislative Action Team members. LAT meetings are held once a month at the SCEA office in Bridgewater. Please contact us for more information. Frank Curcio and Bob Kapp, NJEA Legislative Committee THE KING AND I Sunday, June 7, 2015 10:15 AM – 7:15 PM Includes LUNCH first at Carmine’s Restaurant (Between Broadway and 90th) $165 per person ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ DR. ZHIVAGO Saturday, September 12, 2015 11:15 AM – 8:15 PM Includes DINNER at DaTamasso Restaurant (8th Avenue between 53rd and 54th) $170 per person ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ All trips leave from Hillsborough High School. To see if there is room or to sign up: Call: Ken Weidlich at (610) 559‐0761. Trips are open for EVERYONE! ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Dates to Remember April 22, 2015: SCEA Legislative Dinner April 23, 2015: NJREA Spring Luncheon Meeting April 23, 2015: NJREA Spring Luncheon, Bordentown May 6, 2015: SCREA Spring Luncheon, Hillsborough October 7, 2015: SCREA Fall Meeting/ Luncheon November 4‐5, 2015: NJREA Convention A Publication of the Somerset County Retired Educators Association — March 2015
LUNCHEON MEETING
Pheasants Landing
311 Amwell Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844
(908) 281-1288
Wednesday May 6, 2015
Time: 11:00 AM
CHOICE — SELF
CHOICE — GUEST
Chicken Francaise:
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Sliced Roast Beef:
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Baked Flounder :
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TOTAL NUMBER OF MEALS:
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NAME & ADDRESS:
__________________________________________________________________________
PHONE Number:
_____________________________
GUEST(S):
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COST $25.00 per meal — Please make checks payable to SCREA and mail to:
Diane Lebbing
P.O.Box 144
Belle Meade, NJ 08502
Deadline Thursday, May 1, 2015
If you have special dietary needs, please include a note with this reservation.
Important Message from NJREA President Pat Provnick Dear NJREA member, At a recent Executive Committee meeting, Pat Provnick, NJREA president, announced that she had appointed an ad hoc Pension/Health Benefits Study Committee. The purpose of the committee is to provide input to NJEA about retiree concerns as NJEA continues to work with the Commission formed by the governor – “to fix the pension system” and the “escalating cost” of the State Health Benefit insurances. In addition, the ad hoc committee will develop and implement communication strategies to keep you informed. Therefore, it is imperative that you check that the email address in the NJEA database is current. To do this, access njea.org and log in, usually with your membership number and the last four digits of your social security number. At the top of the page, you will see MY PROFILE. Click on it and check your address, phone numbers, and email address. Make changes, if necessary, and SAVE. We urge you to check both the NJEA and NJREA websites (njea.org and [email protected]) regularly as information about proposed pension and health benefit changes will be posted as they become available. In addition, please contact your retired NJREA member friends who do not have Internet access and share information on these critical issues. Thank you for following this request. A Publication of the Somerset County Retired Educators Association — March 2015
SOMERSET COUNTY RETIRED EDUCATORS Carol Shields 1140 Route 22 East, Suite 100 Bridgewater, NJ 08807 LUNCHEON MEETING Wednesday May 06, 2015 To visit the NJREA Webpage
 Go to NJEA homepage @ www.njea.org.  On the right hand side of the blue bar on the top of the page, click on the tab that says “Members.”  Next, scroll down the menu and click on the title of "Retired Members" to get to NJREA's home page  Once there click on "log in" type in your six digit PIN (found on your membership card) and four digit password, hit "enter". Your password is the last 4 digits of your SS#. For state and national information, visit the NJEA and NEA‐Retired Facebook pages If you are receiving the printed version of our newsletter, please consider switching to an electronic copy. It will save printing costs, postage, assembly time and more. Notify Carol Shields at [email protected] An electronic copy of the most recent issue of SCREAch can be downloaded from the SCEA website. Go to http://sceanj.org/screa/