“The Virginia Retirement System is pouring more money into technology and weapons for a genocide of the over 60,000 dead Palestinians,” were the last words a Virginian firefighter uttered before getting arrested at a Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Board of Trustees public meeting on Sept. 25. The grave statement reflects the concerns of many among the 803,000 employees in Virginia—including teachers, state agency workers, retirees and more—who are required to pay 5% of their salary into the VRS.
The VRS is the public pension system for the Commonwealth of Virginia, ranked as the fifteenth largest public or private pension in the United States and the thirty-sixth largest globally. It’s an independent state agency that manages retirement benefits for thousands of employees in Virginia’s public sector, such as those who work for the services of the government and local counties. Despite holding a top-ranked title, the VRS wrongly uses their funds to aid the disastrous struggles Gazans have to endure everyday.
Since 1948, tensions over land disputes have persisted between Palestine and Israel. These tensions escalated on Oct. 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 civilians and kidnapped 251 hostages, according to the Washington Post. Since then, the Israeli military has been attacking innocent civilians in Gaza for more than two years, breaking several ceasefire agreements. The Gaza Health Ministry stated that 69,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 100,000 Gazans currently going through malnutrition due to the ongoing famine. As the humanitarian crisis continues and more civilians suffer to find basic necessities and safety, the VRS has paved the way to supporting it, and FCPS is following its footsteps.
According to a VRS Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2024, there have been 367,783 active members as of June 2024. As required by the Code of Virginia 51.1-145, these active members or any employees registered in VRS’s plan get 5% of their salary automatically deducted each month to fund the VRS. The VRS then makes investments using this money to maximize returns for members’ retirement benefits.
Although these employees hope their money contributes to benefiting society, the VRS has invested $300 million into companies such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics—all notable for building high-tech weapons and technology for the Israeli military. This investment was discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request from the Palestinian Youth Movement.
These investments, as claimed by VRS’s Board Chair Scott Andrews, are supposed to be made “in the best interests of VRS members, refugees and beneficiaries.” Yet when the VRS received a petition including 1,200 signatures and 20,000 emails demanding action to be taken from how unethically employees’ money is being spent, the VRS responded a month later without fully addressing the concerns.
Counties have an option to enroll their employees into the VRS or not. FCPS is one of the counties who willingly chose to participate in the VRS, mandating the teachers, principals and other staff members to have 5% of their salary automatically funded to the VRS. As more light is shed upon how VRS is using the money gained by these employees, FCPS needs to take a step back from supporting this retirement system.
FCPS needs to withdraw from their retirement plan with VRS. Teachers, principals and other staff members all work hard to fulfill every child’s needs for an equitable education, yet 5% of their salary is reduced to fund a conflict that promotes the mass killings of civilians. If counties choose to exit the VRS plan, they can establish their own retirement system, which needs to be the next action taken by FCPS to ensure that no more dollars are being funded to a system that helps a military attack the innocent lives of children and women.
