In response to the April 17 letter by Aaron Starr ("Some tough love for teachers"): It was disappointing to see that Mr. Starr had put blatantly inaccurate statements in his letter.

Mr. Starr wrote, "Your unions have bankrupted our state by insisting on lucrative pensions and lifetime free medical benefits." I'm not sure where Mr. Starr got his information, as he obviously did not do his homework.

In terms of teacher pensions, teachers pay 8 percent of their earnings into the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), and they are not covered under Social Security.

Even if a teacher has worked other jobs under Social Security they lose all or most of the benefits they have paid for, as they are offset by their STRS pension.

In terms of being "lucrative," the STRS pension benefits are fully taxable, meaning they come out after taxes to be about the same as Social Security payments. Also the 8 percent they pay into STRS is more than Mr. Starr pays into Social Security.

Also teachers do not receive "lifetime free medical benefits" from the state. Teachers negotiate medical benefits district by district.

Teachers in Simi Valley do not receive free lifetime medical benefits. If eligible when they retire, they can receive a small payment in the $300 range to help cover part of their medical costs until age 65 when Medicare kicks in. After age 65 they receive nothing to help them pay for medical care.

Lastly, I do not follow Mr. Starr's logic that because people at his company lost their jobs, other people should feel his pain and lose their jobs.

It would seem to me that an economic recovery can only take place by people keeping their jobs and those who are unemployed finding new jobs.

Mr. Starr has the right to his opinion, but it should be based on actual facts. Arleigh Kidd Simi Valley

Kidd is a consultant/organizer for California Teachers Association (CTA) Region 3.