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LATEST LETTERS

DPS pension

Thursday, July 5 at 11:47 AM

Don Novy of Denver, a retired DPS instrumental music teacher, writes:

Dear Nancy and David, authors of ‘DPS pension in a decade: flush to formidable debt’: Your researched, but educationally shallow ‘expose’ in the ‘Rocky’ unfortunately reflects a scewed perspective of a serious...not ‘huge threat’... budgeting problem that the DPS school district’s elected leaders (’The Board’) should be able to solve simply by selling or mortgaging selected school district property, as you’ve found they’ve done in the past.
The real problem is that all of the school boards in this great nation, including DPS, have been ‘democratically’ elected from people of means (capable of running campaigns), financially able and politically eager to sit without compensation to further their public images, and unknowingly many times making biased decisions about educational issues for which they have little or no direct knowlege or training. How about hiring a superintendant who has never been one before? Or....recreating an out-moded educational system (middle schools)...now proven to have been a mistake, as it thrust youngsters into associating with older students and all the social angst that goes with it....not to mention drastic reductions in staff...mostly art and music teachers...that it facilitated.
It would seem that putting an educational budget problem on the backs of retired teachers is not the answer.
I would think that you’d have a little more respect for your elders!

READER COMMENTS

wait a minute Don the budget problem for the retirement of teachers is not on your back but the taxpayers who have to supply the majority of the funds.

Posted by on July 5, 2007 05:16 PM

the problem with the DPS retirement fund is that the majority of it goes to pay for the retirement of primcipals and all others who do not teach in the school system.

Posted by tim on July 6, 2007 08:57 AM

The problem with the DPS pension plan is that it is a defined benefit program instead of a defined contribution plan.

Posted by on July 6, 2007 09:13 AM