No retirement bonus for CPS teachers, too few applied

Officials with the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools had hoped to save money by enticing longer-tenured, higher-paid teachers to bite at a retirement bonus, but too few applied.

CPS officials had offered the extra $1,500 for each year on the job as part of their contract with the Chicago Teachers Union.

But fewer than 900 teachers agreed by March 31 to commit to retire. The school system needed at least 1,500 to do so, or the retirement incentive would be pulled.

Now, those who signed up by the deadline have until the end of this month to withdraw their applications to retire, according to a letter CPS has sent them.

CPS officials were counting on saving money this budget year even with the bonuses, estimated to come to about $33,000 per teacher to anyone who retired in June. They planned to do that by delaying payment of the retirement bonuses until as late as December, well into a new budget year, when they would no longer have those longer-tenured teachers' higher salaries, $85,000 to $100,000 each, on the payroll.

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