Retired teachers
Regarding “Retired teachers seek elusive pension boost as Texas banks $27 billion windfall,” (Aug. 15): Since my wife is a retired teacher, I read this piece with great interest. In the article, the writers mention that most retired teachers do not receive Social Security. What needs to be explained further is that they, unlike many other workers, may not even receive spousal death benefits even if their spouse was receiving Social Security. If my wife worked at Walmart or, for that matter, never worked at all, she would continue to receive at least a portion of my Social Security payments were I to die first. But not most Texas teachers. How did this gross and obvious unfair treatment ever make it into Social Security law? Maybe we should ask Kevin “the Ronald Reagan of Texas” Brady, why the Windfall Elimination Provision was put in the tax code back in 1983 when Reagan was president. How many dedicated teachers since then have had to spend their final years scrimping and saving every penny after losing their spouse’s Social Security benefits? And why is this provision still law?
Tom Pellegrini, The Woodlands