The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-08-07
NEW LAWS WILL Be URGED
Actuaries May be Employed by the
State to Figure Out Tables in Con-
nection with Plan to Pay Retirement
Pensions to the School Teachers.

! IoIce is the IeacH6fS pension SYSTEM
1t is doubtful, in fact, if the teachers
of Wisconsin themselves will not de-
sire that there be legislation on the
! subject by the next legislature. In
! deed, had the teachers of Wisconsin
really understood the question before
this Legislature it is doubtful if they
would not have been down to the legis-
lature through representatives demand
| ing changes in the law. The trouble is
that the Wisconsin teachers who are
under the pension do not appreciate
| the real cause which is behind the de-
mand to place a teachers fund on an
actuarial basis, and in this miscon-
struction deem all articles that are
written on the subject as unfriendly
to the sysem.
Undoubtedly State Senator Howard
| Teasdale desires that the teachers pen
sion Law should be repealed. Mr. Teas
| dale has no use for teachers pensions
and has not been afraid to say SO be-
/ fore this Legislature. But on the other
hand, if Mr. Teasdale is bringing up
questions which Of themselves demand
discussion the teachers should recog-
nize this fact and take steps to meet
the objections Of Mr.. Teasdale where
! they are warranted and not seek re-
lief in merely standing by legislation
against the repeal of the law to create
a teachers pension fund.
The worst sufferers, if there is not
change in the teachers pension law,
will be the teachers themselves. lit is
now recognized fact that some kind
4 of a teachers pension system, should
be maintained. It is doubtful, how
ever, if one teacher in hundred really
recognized the basis on which the teach
! ers pensions rest today. 1t is not the
fact that the pension system is a pen
sion system, rather than an actuarial
insurance system which demands that
| the contract be reduced to a scientific
basis but what is infinitely more inter
esting to the teachers themselves, the
fact that many teachers are seeking
the protection Of the teachers pension
| xySta hoe
which will return them an adequate
compensation in their old age when in
reality no such contract exists and the
compensation which is now being paid
retired teachers and which it is pro-
posed to pay retired teachers. when they
are obliged to cease from active teach
ing does not provide any such protec-
ton as the teachers themselves think.
1t is the expectation Of the teachers
who are paying into the teachers pen
sion fund that upon retirement after
the stipulated term of service, they
1 will receive pensions of more than
three hundred dollars year. The
teachers pension fund provides no
such contract. The contract merely
provides that upon the payment by
the teachers of stipulated sum, the
teachers shall, upon their retirement,
after the requisite term Of service re-
eelve pension in the sum expected
| provided the teachers retirement fund
at that time is in financial condition
to pay the sum, and if it is not, chat
the teacher who has made the payment
| into the fund shall receive his or her
pro rata share of the fund at the dis
posal of the trustees of the teachers
pension fund for the payment of teach
ers' pensions.
| Now, what Mr.. Teasdale has brought
out that is really of value to the state,
and he is backed up by experience else
where and also by an opinion from the
insurance commissioner department,
! is that at the present rates at which
the teachers payments are made and
with the state appropriation continuing
at the amount now fixed for the teach
ers pension fund, the sum will be en-
tirely inadequate to meet the pensions
which will soon mature. If this is a
| fact the teachers themselves should de-
sire that the fund be placed on an
actuarial basis either by larger pay
ments by themselves or by a provision
for larger payment by the state If
these paments are not made adequate
the teachers will find themselves in
their old age in the same position that
many holders of fraternal insurance
have found themselves in in the past,
that of having supposedly provided for
themselves with protection for their
non-earning period, when in reality
such protection does not exist.
Already the holders of teachers pen
sion contracts in cities where teachers
| pensions have been established upon
| the same plan as that which has been