How serious is the situation with teacher pensions? Very.
Here are some facts non-teachers (and maybe even some Illinois teachers) may not know:
I held many jobs before entering the teaching profession. But any money that I paid into Social Security will not be returned to me as full benefits, even though I am fully vested.
In my district, 9.5% of my salary goes into the state’s Teacher Retirement System. My board pays nothing. The state is required by law to pay into the system, but they have not met their pension obligations. TRS is now funded by the state (according to the Sun-Times) at 56 percent.
When I retire in a few years, will I receive my pension? I’m already denied my full share of Social Security.
A story in today’s Sun-Times by Terry Savage tells the frightening story:
The State of Illinois has the most underfunded public pension plans in the nation, with a funding gap that is now approaching $50 billion.
It was just a few years ago that Speaker Michael Madigan, attacking teachers for our alleged “golden parachute” of a pension plan, pushed through a state “pension holiday” where the state legislature voted not to contribute it’s share to TRS for two years.
Where is Madigan and the rest of legislature and political leadership now that teachers and other state employees are facing a pension crisis? They want to make matters worse by merging the five major troubled plans into one.
