"This is my second year as a teacher. I moved here from Pennsylvania where the pension is very different. As young teacher I’m very concerned that we make sure our pension is set for our future. We want to be able to stay in the county where we’re needed so badly and not feel like we need to go back to Pennsylvania so we can retire comfortably when the time comes."

"I’ve been in the system for 17years already and when I retire at 67 my pension will be about $12,000 a year. I’m originally from Pennsylvania where we get a good pension so it’s been quite an eye-opening experience finding out how bad it is here.

At my school we had a day where all staff could come in and email our legislators and signed letters that we brought with us tonight."

Yolanda Appiah-Kubi
Prince George’s
Speech/language pathologist

"Right now, if you are support staff you might not receive more than $7,000 per year. It’s just something that you can’t even fathom. We’re trying as a group to bond together in solidarity to make sure all of us can retire with dignity."

Olga Orndorff Left
Food service
Elizabeth Miller Right
Manager, Food service
Martin Luther King MS
Prince George’s

"We’re here with Local 2250 and we think the pension is just way too low – the lowest – and we’re here to talk to legislators to let them know it should be much better. "

Bill Derose
N. Harford MS Harford
Teacher

"We’re hoping for pension reform to upgrade the worst pension system in the country to one of the best."

Tom Berg
Teacher

"I’m a 35-year educator. I’m in the old system, but I really think all of my colleagues need a better system. I’d like to see my system improved, too. Even the older teachers want to see a change in the system not just for themselves but for everyone."

Pat Anderson
Churchville ES Harford
Teacher

"I will be retiring very soon and I feel it’s my moral duty to be sure that other teachers have a decent retirement because I’m not sure mine is going to be a decent retirement.

With college degrees, young people are going to get more money somewhere else with their education. People just don’t want to put in the time and the effort it takes to teach anymore. This is very serious."

Ellen Gural
Churchville ES Harford

"It’s going to be difficult to live in the pension I’ll be getting when I do retire which is very soon. I feel for those who are behind me with many years to go - something has to change. I really don’t hink young people would be staying in the profession very long obnce they really realize what the pension is after 20 or 30 years. "

"The constant turnover with teachers coming down here from Pennsylvania to teach for a couple of years then leaving leaves the school constantly in flux. The kids never know who’s going to be around. There’s no continuum. A lot of teachers retire or leave the system and the new teachers don’t become veterans. It’s very detrimental for students."

"This issue affects support staff just as much as it does teachers. Support staff income is low to begin with so when you’re talking about the proposed increase it would make quite a big difference for support staff as well. "