Setting the facts straight

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What about moving teachers into a defined contribution plan (commonly known as a 401k)? First, there are questions about how this could be done when the state decided years ago that teachers would not be a part of Social Security since they are given a defined benefit pension.

Second, the state would actually see an increase in what is owed to TRS. The current retirees would need to be paid as per law; yet, without contributions coming into the system from active teachers, the state would need to make up the difference. A 2008 estimate put that additional cost at more than $25 million in just the first year.

And, the underfunded amount has not been addressed and would still need to be paid.

Aren’t pension benefits high? Out of 87,000 retired teachers in Illinois, 17,269 receive a pension that’s less than $20,000. A few administrators (only 2 percent of retirees) receive large pensions of more than $100,000.

Remember that people receiving a pension have spent up to 35 years educating students and are reliant on the pension promised to them many years ago by the state.

Cinda Klickna taught at Southeast High School, serves as secretary-treasurer of the Illinois Education Association, and is a trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System.