If I retire during the school year instead of waiting until June 30th do I receive any service credit for the portion of the year that I work? You will receive service credit on a pro-rated basis for each day of work. TRS has a conversion chart that credits you with the appropriate number of months of service for partial years of work. This chart appears on
www.nystrs.org.

If I don’t use all of my personal days prior to the end of the year do I carry them over to next year? Yes, your personal days are carried over in September and 3 additional personal days are added to your carry-over amount. Should this new total exceed 5 days, the days in excess of 5 are transferred over to your personal illness days.

Many teachers in my building are having difficulties using the vision plan at a local provider. The problem isn’t with the doctor, but with the other staff members. Can the benefit fund help us? The MTA Benefit Fund has addressed this issue with both the doctor and NYSUT Member Benefits. It is hoped that all fund participants will notice an improvement in the manner in which the doctor’s staff deals with the patients.

I noticed that my summer school pay for 2005 was the same as for 2004. Why wasn’t there an increase? Summer school pay is based upon the BA Step 1 salary that is in effect at the time. Since a new contract has not been settled, the summer school pay was based upon the same salary figure as the year before.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply and some may appear in future newsletters. Visit our archives at: middletownteachers.org for all the answers!