Michelle Holmes

I started teaching in Rhode Island in 1997 and entered into a contractual relationship with the state of Rhode Island. This contract stated that I would receive approximately 60% of my salary in retirement from the state pension fund. This benefit was part of the package for teachers when salaries were very low. I was earning 34,000/year plus the pension retirement benefit. This was an earned benefit that I would collect when I retired.



However in 2011, the state of Rhode Island breached that contract. I had 14 years of service in the Narragansett School System in 2011. This reform was a serious breach of contract that has substantially affected my retirement. The reform included a tiered benefit system based on service years so that more senior teachers would approve of the reform but teachers like myself who were a few months shy of the cutoff would be in a category that was significantly impacted.



I just received the paperwork from ERSRI which has informed me that the pension I will receive is only 30% of my average salary. This is a 50% reduction. In 2 months I will be 64 years old and I still can’t collect my pension without an additional 16% reduction. After 26 years of teaching, I’ve had to stop working full time in order to care for my elderly mother.



According to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, the constitutional protections in the state of Rhode Island provide that contractual rights are not violated unless the impairment in benefits is substantial. Reducing my pension benefits by 50% is not only substantial, it is egregious.



After 26 years of service, the state of Rhode Island has breached this contract. My colleagues in neighboring states like Connecticut and Massachusetts will benefit from their contractual relationships and receive their pensions. The current Rhode Island pension reform is unconscionable.The state should recognize this and provide rollbacks that are fair and reasonable.

This is life-changing; it is not a mere 5 or 10% reduction. There are several of us in this category who are substantially impacted by this breach.



Michelle Holmes

Submitted via online webform