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The Houston Association of Retired Teachers (HART)
A local chapter of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA)
Meeting location and dates:
- Episcopal Church of the Epiphany 9600 S. GessnerHouston, TX 77071
- 9:30 a.m. Social Time
- 10:00 a.m. Meeting
- September 12 - General Meeting: Voting
- October 10 - General Meeting
- November 14 - General Meeting
- December 12 - HART Holiday Luncheon
Join the Celebration - We're Not Going Back to School Party!
Tuesday, August 12
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Jax Grill in Bellaire: 6510 S. Rice Ave.
Everyone is invited to come and bring a friend. Order food and drinks at the counter or just come for the fun and comaraderie. Meet new people and win a door prize.
Free parking in front and in the HEB parking garage across the street.
Why Join HART and TRTA:
- To stay informed on our retirement benefits and health insurance;
- To support HART’s projects such as Books For Children, HART Scholarship Fund, HART Continuing Education Fund for Teachers, Kids' Meals and the Stilwell Residence for Retired Educators;
- To participate in monthly field trips to places of interest in the greater Houston area;
- To access additional insurance, discounts and travel through AMBA;
- To meet new friends, connect with old friends and colleagues, and most importantly, to have fun!
Membership
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO JOIN THE HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED TEACHERS?
- An annuitant or a beneficiary receiving an annuity from a teacher retirement system can become a member of HART and TRTA upon payment of local dues and state dues.
- Any person interested in public education and willing to work to achieve the purposes of TRTA upon payment of local dues and state dues.
MEMBERSHIP IS $50.00 PER YEAR
$15.00 of the fee is for HART membership.
$35.00 of the fee is for Texas Retired Teachers Association membership.Use one of the following three methods to join:
- Click here to download an application that you can mail to HART, P.O. Box 6727, Houston, TX 77265-6727
- Come to any HART monthly meeting and join during the meeting.
- Join HART/TRTA online below. If you use the online payment method there is an additional $3.00 service charge added to the cost of the yearly membership. This option is only for members who do not auto pay their TRTA dues.
To order your membership online, click on the photo below.
INSIDE LINE
Make certain that you receive TRTA's Inside Line eMail by Executive Director Tim Lee and learn about issues and events that affect you by CLICKING HERE.
News From HART
There are no published blog posts yet.Legislative Priorities of HART and TRTA:
Maintain a solvent TRS pension fund by fully funding statutory contribution rates and using excess staterevenues to help reduce the unfunded liability
• The TRS defined benefit pension plan is vital to the retirement security of all public education employees and retirees.
• TRS provides cost-efficient retirement security for plan participants and taxpayers.
• Reducing the unfunded liability now saves Texas taxpayers significant money in the long term and protects the TRS pension fund.
Provide a benefit enhancement to help offset the negative impact of inflation
• TRTA recommends funding a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for TRS retirees when possible or providing a supplemental payment when a COLA is not possible.
• Retirees living on fixed incomes have been impacted drastically by record inflation over the last decade and
managing its impact is an ongoing challenge.
• During the 88th session, the Texas Legislature passed SB 10 and Texas voters approved Prop 9, providing much-needed help to most TRS retirees.
• The unfortunate reality is that cumulative inflation has eroded the modest pension benefits of all TRS retirees.
Maintain and protect TRS-Care by fully funding the current statutory contribution rates
• Continue to provide an affordable healthcare plan for all TRS retirees.To learn who represents you and how to contact those persons CLICK HERE.
To learn if you are registered to vote and if your voter registration is up-to-date, CLICK HERE.
HARTbeat Newsletters
Cherry Wong, Editor
HART Sings!
Paul and Sue Ofeld receive the Dr. Kate Bell Memorial "Spirit of Hart" award for their music contributions to the Houston Association of Retired Teachers.
HART Projects:
HART Scholarship Fund, Inc.
Each spring, the Houston Association of Retired Teachers awards up to five scholarships to junior or senior students who are enrolled in a college of education. We rotate through the following universities: University of Houston, St. Thomas University, Houston Baptist University, Rice University, and Texas Southern University.
Mail Donations to:HART Scholarship Fund, Inc. P.O. Box 6727Houston 77265-6727.
- The 2024 HARTScholarship winners attend Rice University and are working toward their Master ofArts in Teaching, specifically math.
- Mitch Blakely, who is a lawyer bytraining, discovered he has a passion for teaching while subbing in a mathclassroom.
- Nma Ejiawoko earned her BS in Mathematics from South Carolina StateUniversity in 2022 and is a student-teacher resident in Spring Branch districtthis term.
- Gregory Kabay comes from a family of teachers: his parents aremembers of HART; his wife is a teacher in HISD; and Gregory taught at ParkerElementary in Houston ISD for fifteen years.
- Rathna Ramesh, who received a BAin Social Policy Analysis from Rice University in December of 2023, strives tomake her classroom a space where students can enjoy learning.
- Sechan Yoon, who tutored students in Guam and received his BAin Mathematics from Rice University in 2023, wants to be mindful of holdingevery one of his students to a high standard and believes that every studentcan achieve great things both in and outside of the classroom.
- Each recipientwill receive $1500 to be applied toward the summer or fall semester of 2024.Thank you for your generous support of the HART Scholarship Fund, which allows us to support future teachers in our local universities.
HART Continuing Education Fund #1
Stilwell Retirement Residence/ Kate Bell Assistance Fund
Kids' Meals
Contact Us
Credits
Photography - Howard Lindsay, Tom Sanders, Richard A. Smith
Webmaster - Richard A. Smith
Immediate Past Webmaster - Tom Sanders
© 2021
