The Dec. 24 editorial pertaining to CalSTRS and its unfunded liability noted that the legislature believes that teachers need assistance to get through retirement, and paying into Social Security will help them to do so.

However, the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) are federal laws that affect teacher pensions in California. The laws eliminate or greatly reduce the Social Security benefits that were earned by a teacher at any time in his or her life. When the state Legislature starts talking about Congress passing laws that allow teachers to pay into Social Security, they better make sure that the two laws that prevent teachers from getting those benefits are repealed.

Information about these two laws can be found on the Social Security, Cal-STRS, CTA.org and NEA.org"> websites.