Teachers are already underpaid and those who have worked outside the pension system shouldn't be penalized. This legislation is old and refers to a time when most teachers were "career" teachers.
After working in education they retired with large pensions and lifetime healthcare benefits. This is not the situation today. What was called a "windfall elimination" in the 90s is not appropriate in the current economy. Teachers who have worked 5 years under the pension program give up about 85% of their previously earned Social Security benefits. There is no windfall for "second career" teachers.
One teacher's story:
Right now there is an issue that bothers me greatly: teachers' social security benefits.
I haven't always been a teacher; I have been working since I was 15 years old and I wanted a car. The deal was that my dad would match as much as I could save up. He did, but it was just a down payment. I kept working to make payments, pay insurance, and buy gas for my orange Ford Pinto. I had a lot of different jobs from that time until and during my college years. Then, I was a computer programmer straight out of college (BA with Honors in Computer Science and English) and made my way up to the glass ceiling as IT Department Manager. Once I attained all the growth I could muster inside the corporate machine, I made a career change and became a teacher.
The feeling I get from teaching makes up for the decrease in pay that I receive. It is a more rewarding life in other ways. As I get nearer to retirement, I have been learning that lower pay isn't the only injustice for teachers. After years of service to our students and communities, we learn that not only are our pensions in danger, but also our social security benefits are reduced or denied based on our eligibility for even a very small pension.
That's just unjust. Please repeal WEP/GPO from the Social Security Act. I deserve the Social Security benefits I paid in for all those years before I became a teacher, and so do the others who have had reduced hours and benefits in an effort to reduce their future pensions.