In addition to the many pension reform proposals being discussed in Springfield currently, Speaker Michael Madigan is proposing a Constitutional Amendment to supposedly stop the legislature from easily passing increased pension benefits in the future. There are several problems with this approach. 1. In essence, Speaker Madigan is admitting the Legislature can’t control themselves in [...]
Grayslake D127 Superintendent Gets 30% Raise
April 12, 2012 By
Grayslake High School District 127 received a new 5 year contract. The contract gives Dr. Catherine Finger a $65,000 raise (see table below) or put another way, a 30% increase over the next 5 years. This raise does not include all benefits as calculated by TRS (Teacher retirement System) and is stated to mirror the [...]
Overpaid Public Workers: The Evidence Mounts
April 11, 2012 By
Recently, an analysis by two Bureau of Labor Statistics economists, published in the winter 2012 Journal of Economic Perspectives, concluded that the salary and current benefits of state and local government employees nationwide are 10% and 21% higher, respectively, than private-sector employees doing similar work. This study didn’t even factor in the market value of [...]
Retired Illinois teachers could face pension cuts
April 3, 2012 By
The head of the Illinois teacher’s retirement system says there was no one factor that prompted him to sound the alarm. His warnings of a possible reduction in his members’ benefits — as well as the revelation that his fund could go broke in 15 years — come as the state continues to grapple with [...]
10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About IL State Pensions.
March 30, 2012 By
1. Taxpayershave contributed more, not less, than the 1995 Fifty year pension funding law required. Most people are familiar with the 1995 pension funding law that set up a schedule of payments that would result in 90% pension funding by 2044 for all the state pension systems. The schedule of state payments given to us [...]
Spineless Illinois Politicians Propose to Shift Pension Burden to Schools
March 29, 2012 By
Public employee pensions have been a state expense. Therefore, a big chunk of legacy costs don’t need to be shown on school district books. But new legislation proposed by Senate Democrats seeks to change that. They want local school districts to bear that burden. Click here to read this article on Townhall.com.
Taxpayers Have Contributed 230% More Than Teachers Since 2001
March 26, 2012 By
An unending cascade of misinformation continues to come out of Springfield, union headquarters and the media so let me say it loud and clear: We Taxpayers Have OVERPAID Into Pensions Not UNDERPAID. Let’s keep it simple: Is $20.1 billion greater than $8.7 billion? If the answer is “Yes” then we taxpayers have paid [...]
What Public Employee Unions are Doing to Our Country
March 13, 2012 By
You and I make spending decisions the way all households do. We take our income, and we live within our means. In sharp contrast, public employee unions have introduced a whole new dynamic: They negotiate pay and benefits in contracts we can’t rewrite. When the revenues to meet these obligations fall short, they push to [...]
Why Is Illinois’sTop Teacher Salary $108,000 More Than Kentucky’s?
March 12, 2012 By
And $95,000 more than WI and $92,000 more than IA and $83,000 more than MO? Or to put it another way why is IL top teacher salary more than twice as much as Kentucky’s ($203,000 vs. $195,000)? The answer the above questions is simple: because the National Education Association (NEA) and it’s spawn, the Illinois [...]
Anatomy of a Teacher’s Contract: Blueprint for a Taxpayer Mugging
February 29, 2012 By
One More Reason Why Illinois Needs A “Fairness In Compensation Act.” I recently received, via a Freedom of Information Act request, a copy of the most recent teachers’ contract with High School District 214 inArlington Heights,IL. What I found was 67 pages of gifts for the teachers at the direct expense of the taxpayers. This document [...]
