I’d like to respond to Robert Goodrich’s letter (Herald, April 7) regarding school funding shortfalls, which he blames on PERA. The average monthly PERA benefit is $3,020, and most PERA members are not eligible for any additional Social Security. While comfortable, this does not strike me as “overly generous and unrealistic” as he describes. Goodrich also mentions political parties pandering to unions in his letter; it’s not clear why, as PERA retirement is not tied to any union membership. Since school districts have been making PERA contributions since 1938, to blame the current school-funding issues solely on PERA seems disingenuous. Goodrich’s suggestion to lower the PERA rate to match that of Social Security is unrealistic since Social Security has been running deficits since 2010 and is expected to run out of money in 2033.
Janet Dahlquist
Durango
