COSTA MESA : Teachers Seek Bonus for Retiring Early

Outraged at the school district’s announcement last week that teachers would get no early retirement bonus, about 20 older teachers on Tuesday begged the trustees of Newport-Mesa Unified School District for a “golden handshake.”

“We don’t want a gold watch, we want to eat,” said Liz Meyer, who has taught in the district for 35 years. “These teachers have held the future of this district in their hands and done a great job. We beg you, please go back and look at this again.”

In a bulletin distributed June 2, a joint committee of district administrators and members of the teachers union announced that there would be no early retirement incentives this spring.

Last year, amid layoffs, teachers could opt for a one-time buyout package of 20% of their salary or a state “golden handshake” program that offered about $120 a month more than regular retirement.

But Personnel Director Bill Noonan said the district no longer qualifies for the state program, and that after 25 hours of consultation with various annuity companies, a district-union committee determined it would be impossible to provide incentives for early retirement.

“When you’re in budget restraints, you don’t want to put money in the pockets of people who aren’t going to be here--it comes out of the pockets of people who are going to be here,” Noonan said. “If we were going to give a large bonus to the teachers that are leaving, we would have to reduce teachers and increase class sizes. We wouldn’t do that.”

Tuesday night, though, angry teachers spoke of colleagues who stayed at work despite failing health because they could not afford to retire.

“There are people struggling to stay alive because of this money problem,” complained Dave Ghere, a teacher at Corona del Mar High. Speaking of a fellow science teacher who recently had heart surgery, Ghere said: “I watch him popping nitroglycerin while he’s typing out tests.”