Inflation impacting retired Texas teachers, who seek pension boost

Bobbie Duncan spent 43 years in Texas classrooms until she retired in 2001. At the time of her retirement, new changes in the Texas legislature allowed her to recoup nearly the same dollar amount she received while working. But that was 21 years ago. Since then, today's prices are 1.62 times higher than average prices in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, meaning a dollar today only buys 62% of what it bought back then. And where the inflation rate was 2.85% in 2001, it is now 8.54%. Duncan was one of several speakers who went before the Texas senate finance committee last week urging lawmakers to incorporate more funding options into the Texas Retirement System - a pension program for public education employees - that allow for inflation. “As a retired teacher, I can't even afford to go to a retirement center because my income every month will not pay for assisted living,” Duncan said. “On behalf of thousands like me, I hope you will consider a reasonable, substantial (cost-of-living adjustment) for all of us retired school employees who helped educate the state.”

Tim Lee, executive director for the Texas Retired Teachers Association, said Duncan’s situation is not unique. In fact, complaints about retirement pay are what he hears most in his role from the organization’s 95,600 members. Statewide there are about 480,000 retired education employees, and a total of 1.5 million active and retired educators, per TRS data. The average monthly TRS check is about $2,100. That money, should the individual not have other income or savings, would have to cover everyday costs such as rent, groceries, gas, medical bills, internet and other daily expenses. The average monthly cost of nursing homes in Texas as of 2021 is about $6,388 for a private room while a semi-private room averages $5,019 per month, according to Genworth's 2020 Cost of Care Survey. “There are plenty of folks (in TRS) that may not have the resources necessary to cover the costs of long-term care,” Lee said. “It's, unfortunately, a common difficult reality.” The Texas teacher pension fund operates as an alternative to Social Security. Just as working Americans get a monthly check upon retirement, so do TRS members. Social Security, with a COLA, keeps pace with inflation, TRS does not. “A pension is deferred compensation … they are earned by the educators that are getting them,” said Monty Exter, senior lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators. “Texas educators, by and large, are relying solely on that pension because they mostly don't get Social Security. For many of them, that pension really is all or nearly all of their income in retirement.”