Updates!

Well, add Fidelity to the list of companies that will not sign onto districts where Envoy Plan Services is the third party administrator. Other prominent vendors that refuse to sign on are Vanguard, American funds, TIAA-CREF, USAA, CalSTRS, and OCTFCU (local Orange County Plan). It used to be that these companies weren't available anyways, though over the past few years because of tax law changes these companies have been showing up more and more. All of the aforementioned companies are available in the San Diego City Schools, however they will be eliminated if the board chooses to hire Envoy. If you are a San Diego City Schools Teacher than I beg you to let your voice be heard - come to the board meeting this coming Tuesday at 3:00pm.

Very shortly my quarterly "Teachers Advocate" e-newsletter will be published, don't miss it. It contains several articles relating to the TPA situation in California along with a few other articles everyone should find interesting.

NYSE Head Resigns

Both CalSTRS & CalPERS sent strong letters to the New York Stock Exchange along with many other prominent members of the investment community calling for the resignation of Richard Grasso. Amazingly nobody is accusing Mr. Grasso of any wrongdoing! They simply believe he got paid to much money (about $140 million over the past 7 years). Mr. Grasso had no over control over his compensation package, but the members in charge of determining the pay package could have benefitted from keeping the boss/regulator happy with a fat salary. All in all, the boards of both CalSTRS and CalPERS did the right thing - serving as a regulator should not be so profitable. Alan Greenspan only gets paid a few hundred thousand a year (I say only!!), he is argueably much more powerful than Dick Grasso. The public is outraged over the salary fiasco and they should be, in an age where we are tyring restore confidence in all of our systems, it isn't very encouraging to find out that one of chief regulators was raking it in.