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President’s Message: My Comments on the Debate

Fall 2015

VOLUME 17, ISSUE 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President’s Message...…….1

Fall Luncheon Agenda...…..1

Membership Reports..…......2

Government Relations Report...2

Luncheon coupon…….........3

2015 Retirees………...….4-5

Pictures………….……...6-9

NEA Convention Report.....10

Pension Activist Update…….11

Save These Dates

The ACREA will hold its

business meetings and

luncheons on

these Tuesdays:

October 6, 2015

December 1, 2015

May 3, 2016

Information regarding

locations will be on

Atlanticrea.

wordpress.com

NJREA Convention Resorts Casino and Hotel

Tiara Ballroom

Atlantic City

Nov. 4-5, 2015

Next Publication

November 2015

Fall Luncheon Agenda: Save the Date October 6

The ACREA will hold

its fall business meet-

ing and luncheon on

October 6, 2015 at

Greate Bay Country

Club, Somers Point.

Doors open at 10:30

and crudités will be

served before the

meeting . New retirees

are encouraged to

come and become

familiar with our associa-

tion.

The business meeting

will begin at 11:00 AM.

The featured speaker, Steve

Swetsky, NJEA Assistant

Executive Director will dis-

cuss the ongoing pension

crisis, what we can expect

next, and what action we

must take.

Also on the agenda

will be the NJ EA-PAC

endorsed candidates for

the November 3 General

Election. All 80 seats in

the Assembly are up for

vote this year. Hear the

candidates address pen-

sion and education is-

sues.

Steve

Swetsky

I’m

sure we all remember the

Howdy Doody show.

So, when I was watching

the debate I was remind-

ed of the politician pup-

pet, Phineas T. Bluster.

Of course there were a

lot of Phineases on that

stage, but you know

where I’m headed.

Phineas T. Christie,

complete with strings

attached to his wealthy

handlers, blustering through his

“accomplishments” in New Jersey. The fact checkers were able to

catch his lies, but we knew that. We’re not surprised, we’re used to

him lying to us and about us.

Again he lied when he claimed the “teachers

union” only cares about money. We know bet-ter. We are the union. We are NJEA. We

know how much we care about our students.

We know how full of it he is. He says we need to

be punched in the face. I guess he thinks we won’t swing back. It’s easy to

be a tough guy when you’re surrounded by a dozen State Troopers.

But then, he is Chris T. Bluster. Roger Baker

Pension Update:

Pension Payment

COLA

Become a Pension Activist

See page 11.

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Membership Report

Joanne Peek, Membership Chair

It’s a new year, membership year that is. As of September 1, we

begin anew. Presently, there are about 900 ACREA members. As a

member you can help increase our numbers and strengthen our or-

ganization by encouraging former colleagues to join NJREA.

This is a good time to check your contact information with NJEA

and ACREA to ensure you continue to receive information about

important issues and activities. Do you have a new phone number,

address or email account.? You can check and change your infor-

mation with NJEA at www.njea.org/mynjea/profile. This is a secure

website so you will need your NJEA membership number. If you

have changed your email account, contact ACREA at atlan-

ticrea@yahoo.com or call Joanne Peek, 609-653-6715.

There is much news about the pension crisis and legislation that

may impact retirees. Accurate information and NJEA positions can

be read at www.njea.org. Sign in with your NJEA number for full

content.

ACREA email will be changing in December due to ongoing

problems with the Yahoo email. The new address and provider is

atlanticrea2@gmail.com. Please change your address book to in-

clude our new address.

Endorsements for 2015

Linda Wallace, Gov. Relations

NB:

~~ Reminder ~~

* Annual dues for 2015-2016 were due August 1.

* If you need a renewal form, please contact me at

609-653-6715.

* New retirees are billed as soon as NJEA is offi-

cially informed of their retirement.

We remember and pray

for our friends and col-

leagues:

Charles Belanger

Pamela Ann Dey

Jeanette McSoreley

The ACCEA screening committee

for LD 2 met on July 27 and

screened four candidates for Assem-

bly: the incumbents Vince Mazzeo

(D) and Chris Brown (R) as well as

Colin Bell (D) and Will Pauls (R).

Although we have endorsed Chris

Brown in the past, because he voted

against the full pen-

sion payment in the

budget, he was not

endorsed. We rec-

ommended Vince

Mazzeo and Colin

Bell to the NJEA-

PAC committee and

both candidates were endorsed.

NJEA-PAC did not endorse any can-

didate who did not vote for full fund-

ing of the pension.

We also screened Freeholder can-

didates Brenda Brathwaite (D), an

NJEA member, Jim Bertino (R),

John DiMaria (D), Maureen Kerr (R)

and Tom Willett (D). Bertino was the

only incumbent. Bertino and Willett

are running in District 5. We gave

them a “Your Choice” endorsement,

meaning that we thought both candi-

dates were equally good.

Fall Meeting Agenda:

10:30 am Crudites Served

11:00 am Keynote Speaker and Endorsed Can-

didates

Lunch following the meeting.

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ACREA Executive Board Donates to “Stuff the Bus” Campaign

A big thank you was received at Senator Whelan and Assemblyman Mazzeo's headquarters. Linda Young, representing the Atlantic County Retired Educators Ex-ecutive Board, dropped off a TON of school supplies for the "Stuff the Bus" campaign for kids in need. Do-nated were backpacks, notebooks, pens, pencils and many more supplies for a new school year.

Fall Business Meeting and Luncheon

Tuesday, October 6

Greate Bay Country Club

Somers Point

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Atlantic City

Cynthia Bellavance

Jamie Bennet

Andrew Burroughs

Jill Collette

AnneMarie Cooker

Daniel Daley

Richard Dove

Linda Farmer

Angela Festa-Dalaba

Sherrie Greenfield

Morris Griffin

Joseph Guenther

Jacqueline Hamlet

Gary Howarth

Lawrence Kelly

Deborah Keough

Marilyn Lane

Marianne Lestrange

Billy Marrow

Percy McCarty

Andrea Petinga

Gail Pierre-Parks

Barry Price

Jennifer Pullman

Patrice Rallis

Shelley Reider-Heffron

Brenda Rice

Linda Roy

Nina Shad

Regina Smith

Edie Southard

Eileen Wertz

Kathryn Wilson

Clydie Jo Washington-Griffin

Atlantic County IT

Elaine Hartman

Priscilla Williams

Atlantic County SS

Barbara Bennet

Delores Carmean

Carol Costigan

Jane Drake

Marsha Evette Henry

Annie Jenkins

Linda Kishpaugh

Beverly Jolly

Terri McIntosh

Frances Miller

Kevin O’Brikis

Betsy Parker

Margaret Peterson

Patty Regina

Tim Schulte

Linda Serago

Kathy Shaw

Patricia Spille

Gail Surace

Amy Vendrasso

Buena

Carol Core

Tina Gaunt

Dale Leary

Egg Harbor City

Renee Ahern

Dominick Grossi

Cecilia Rizzi

Egg Harbor Twp

Joan Carino Allen

Diane Bergeron

Geraldine Brown

Triana Bruso

Mary Catalano

Beverly Celona

John Cocozza

Robert Constantine

Merryl Cool

Marion Craner

Pamela Crawford

Ann DePersenaire

Loretta DeVita Zonie

Bette Jean Donnelly

Shannon Fitzgerald

Rebecca Glancey

Jody Gowdy

Donna Marie Kelusak

Deborah Knapp

Dick Knapp

William Littleton

Steven Marcus

Bonnie Mattern

Frances Murphy

Dale Praetorius

Christine Ryan

Deborah Santangelo

Nancy Saumsiegle

Lorraine Shutz

Sandi Taub

Annabell Thorn

Deborah Tkachuck-Malvasi

Linda Todd

Regis Vitale

Judith Panetta Warren

Carole Weidman

Gabrielle Worth

New 2015 Retirees

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Galloway

Linda Amey

Gloria Brooks

Vermil Ceaser

Susan Donnelly

Cheryl Downey-Smisko

Christina Fuhs

Kay Hales

Thomas Hand

Linda Harmon

Cathy Hilferty

Marguerite Hoffman

Susan Irland

Sheila James

Sharon Kurtz

Cyndy Legowski

Suzanna Lewis

Alyce Love

Susan Marcantonio

Beth Massey

Gail Mimler

Dianne Mooney

Kathleen Paparone

Debra Quinn

Cindy Rybaczk

Christina Sauer

Frances Sines

Carol Somers

Janet Thomas

Greater Egg Harbor Reg

Sally Gianndrea

Eileen Hliva

Virginia Mayer

Veronica Smith

Hamilton Township

Virginia Baldwin

Lee Ann Campbell

Patricia Carmen

Chun-an Chen

Mary Hershman

Donna Reese

Diane Scott

Mary Alyse Strother

Hammonton

Olga Rodriguez

Mainland

Calvin Anderson

Joyce Barrie

Tom Cann

Patricia Coll

Jane Feeney

Karl Geisinger

Jack Griffin

Heidi Hibbs

Kim Hodgdon

Patricia Jordan

Patricia Link

Gordon Mann

Mary Mathis

Sue Mika

Holly Monihan

Lydia Nusbaum

Steve Tullio

Mullica

Fran La Bor

Northfield

Andrea Daniel

Gail Walker

Pleasantville

James M. Brown

Ronnie Clayton

Simon Copeland

Patricia D’Arcy

Donald Hall

Melanie Harrington

Marsha Henry

Johanny Jorge-Suerro

Lydia Letson

Ortego McCants

Thomas Mursheno

Maria Florence Oliverio

Richard Poole

James Shisler

Linda Spano

Deborah Taliaferro

Sherry Wilson

Somers Point

Dorothea Arabia

Marianne Lynch

Janet Reinert

Ventnor

Bridget Masters-Littleton

Suzette Pantejo

More 2015 Retirees

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Patricia Beebe (right) congratulates Edythe Greene (left),

a 2015 inductee in the Atlantic County Women’s Hall of

Fame. Edythe joins ACREA members and past winners

Pat Beebe, Mamie Jackson, and Pat Royal in this honor.

Dr. John Phillips (right) received the 2015

Joyce Powell Lifetime Educator Award at the

Friends of Education Dinner sponsored by the

Atlantic County Council of Education. Er-

land Chau (left) worked with Dr. Phillips at

Mainland Regional High School where Dr.

Phillips was a foreign language teacher and,

eventually, a guidance counselor for 33 years.

In addition, Dr. Phillips was a consultant for

NJEA for 30 years, taught graduate courses

for 25 years, and worked on the Juvenile

Conference Committee for six years. A

member of NJREA, Dr. Phillips recently

chaired the constitution review committee for

the organization.

Past NJEA president, Joyce Powell,

retired after two-terms as an NEA di-

rector. Joyce often spoke at the annu-

al retirement brunch for Atlantic

County teachers and support staff.

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Allyson Worrell, a new NJREA/ACREA lifetime

member, joins Joanne Peek and Carol Ann

McDonald at our spring luncheon at Joseph’s Res-

taurant.

In addition to discussing the pen-sion crisis at the ACREA spring meeting, Marie Blistan, NJEA Vice-President, talked to Roseanne and Richard Fittipaldi and other lunch-eon attendees about telling legisla-tors how the loss of their pension will impact their lives.

ACCEA scholarship recipients

Andrew Lavery, Mainland Re-

gional HS, Je-In Ryu, Absegami

HS, Katie Chusinotto, Hammon-

ton HS, and Samantha Velzaques,

Pleasantville HS were recognized

at the ACCEA Retirement Brunch

at Greate Bay Country Club on

May 31.

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NEA-RA delegate Cassandra Mon-

tique was voted Activist of the Year.

Cassandra works in the Atlantic City

School District.

New Atlantic County retiree, Margaret “Candy” Peterson posed with Pat Provnick, Linda

Young, and Judy Perkins NJREA delegates to the NEA-RA Convention in Orlando, FL.

Maryanne Martin welcomes Phyllis Hawkins, the newly

elected recording secretary, to the ACREA executive

committee.

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ACREA members rallied with the Com-

munications Workers of America in Tren-

ton to demand Governor Christie make full

payments to the pension system. Pictured

are Joanne Peek, Roger Baker (president of

ACREA), Tammy Reed, Rose Rhine and

John Dioszeghy (president of BCREA).

Lobby Day, June 25, New Jersey State

House. Members Linda Wallace, Natalie

Fisher and Joanne Peek talk to Senator Lin-

da Greenstein about supporting an override

if the governor vetoes the budget.

Active, retired, and student members wait in

the State House to talk to legislators about

making the full 5/7ths payment to the pen-

sion.

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ACREA Officers, Chairs

2015-2016

Roger Baker – President

Charles Brandt– Vice President

Phyllis Hawkins Recording Secretary

Bob Kickish – Treasurer

Linda Young Corresponding Secretary, Events

Natalie Fisher , Linda Wallace Government Relations

Joanne Peek Newsletter, Membership

Carol Ann McDonald- Member Benefits

Patricia Beebe - Constitution

Dennis Yob - Webmaster

Jim Goldsmith - Audit, Budget

Jerry Hoenes - Parliamentarian

Maryanne Martin— Elections

Judy Perkins - Past President

Contact us: : Atlanticrea@yahoo.com

Visit us: Atlanticrea.wordpress.com

NEA Retired and Representative Assembly Conventions

The National Education Associa-tion Representative Assembly-the RA- is the highest decision-making body within the over 3.2 million-member NEA organiza-tion. With over 9,000 delegates, the RA is also the world's largest democratic deliberative body.

During eight business sessions spanning four days, RA dele-gates debate vital issues that im-pact American public education and set association policy and activities for the year ahead.

This year was the 94th RA. Embracing the meeting's theme- "NEA: Unite. Inspire. Lead." - delegates tackled complex issues with far-reaching implications for the profession, from the fu-ture of mandated testing to

equity in education.

Additionally, topics of concern to retirees were addressed as well as the presentation of annual awards.

Two highlights were the retire-ment of Joyce Powell- longtime champion of education from Cumberland County and past NJEA president, after having served the last eighteen years at the national level. Cassandra Montague- Atlantic City educa-tor, was elected NEA Activist of the Year at the RA from a field of four national finalists.

There were 27 NJREA dele-gates to the NEA-R and RA.

Linda Young, delegate

Join NJREA

NOT A MEMBER? Learn how to join the group that is changing the face of retired public school employees-the New Jersey Retirees' Education Association.

W h o i s t h e N J R E A?

We represent all retired school employees who worked in a New Jersey public school as well as some who worked in uni-versities and community colleges.

We have a membership of nearly 28,000 retired public school employees with more joining every year.

We are composed of 21 county organizations, which meet two to four times annually with featured speakers to provide up-to-date information on important retiree issues.

We advocate for pension, medical, and legislative issues that affect retired school employees.

We have trained legislative action teams who regularly contact—in person and in writing—state and congressional legis-lators to communicate issues of importance to our members.

We sponsor the annual NJREA Convention in Atlantic City and participate in both the annual NJEA and NEA Conventions.

We publish a quarterly newsletter filled with pertinent information on national, state, and county-related topics. W e m a i n t a i n a w e b p a g e t o a l l o w r e t i r e e s a c c e s s t o t i m e l y i n f o r m a t i o n o n e d u c a t i o n i s s u e s .

>> DOWNLOAD BROCHURE

11

Despite the governor’s line-item veto of the Ch. 78-mandated five-sevenths pension payment, NJEA and other New Jersey public employee unions continue to fight for full pension funding and are working with legislators who share that goal. Public sector unions will meet to discuss Speaker Prieto’s pension proposals In July, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Hudson, called public-sector unions together to dis-cuss his ideas for putting the pension system on stronger fiscal footing through increased levels of funding and regular payments. NJEA Executive Director Ed Richardson and NJEA Government Relations Director Ginger Gold Schnitzer represented NJEA at the meeting. Other participants included representatives from AFL-CIO, AFT, CWA, AFSCME, as well as the police and fire un-ions. The Speaker favors setting a new schedule for making pension payments, requiring quarter-ly payments, and dedicating the lion’s share of any unexpected revenues toward supplementing scheduled pension payments. NJEA and the other public employee unions were encouraged that the Speaker had called the meeting to discuss pension funding. Following the presentation, ques-tions were raised about process and enforceability. The public sector unions will be meeting to discuss reactions to the Speaker’s proposals and to plan next steps. NJEA's objective remains unchanged: full funding of the current pension system. SHPB approves pilot project on voluntary use of Direct Primary Care Medical Homes The plan design committee of the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) has approved a project to pilot a voluntary Direct Primary Care Medical Homes (DPCMH) initiative. The design committee of the School Employee Health Benefits Program (SEHBP)—through which retirees and school employees in 306 districts receive their medical benefits—has not yet approved the pi-lot. Should the pilot program be approved, it is important to note that it will not include people on Medicare and that participation in the pilot is voluntary. NJ justices will review the suspension of retirees’ COLAs

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to a 2011 law that suspended retirees’ cost-of-living adjustments, a part of Chapter 78 that overhauled the pension system for public workers. Become a Pension Activist!

NJREA/NJEA needs your voice and participation in our efforts to fully fund the pension and estab-lish a guaranteed method to secure its future. The pension crisis will not go away soon. Help save your pension and benefits by becoming a Pension Activist. Go to http://fundnjpension.org/become-a-pension-activist/