A Schoolteacher’s Retirement Lesson

Re “Retired Schoolteachers Enjoy Generous Benefits,� letter, Dec. 4: I retired from full-time teaching in 1996 with over 30 years of teaching experience. My retirement check each month is considerably less than 70% of my highest year’s earnings. In fact, it is less than 50% of my final year’s salary. I supplement that by working as a substitute at substantially less per day than I made as a full-time teacher.

My “attractive� health benefits (paid for by the district from which I retired) do not include either dental or vision coverage. And that monthly payment for insurance stops the day I turn 65. I wonder if elected officials would be happy with that kind of retirement package if they had put in 30-plus years on the job. In addition, if my husband dies before I do, will I get any Social Security benefits from all the years that he worked and earned credits? Sorry, but this letter’s generalizations about retired teachers were too sweeping. I know they don’t apply to me.

Maggie Bell

Dana Point