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Pension stories show bias against teachers

I am one of the thousands of retired teachers of Illinois. For the past half-century Paddock Publications has pictured us as an overpaid, underachieving lot who have sucked up tax money at the public trough. Because we are unionized and an easy target for public malcontent we are being blamed for the pension crisis that has been created in the hallowed halls of government in Springfield and our nation's capital.

The four-part "time bomb" series on pension reform proposals, formulated in cutie "tea party rhetoric," will certainly put the public on guard vs. teachers. Maybe you will succeed in stripping us of our hard-won pensions and turning us back into the bankrupt Social Security and 401(k) systems.

To date, in your glittering expose, you have failed to give proper consideration to the billions of dollars of taxpayer's money being paid out in graft and pensions to other groups and individuals in the other public sectors supported by Illinois taxpayers. Why have you not reviewed the pension systems of all of our politicians and judges?

Your readers might want to know that politicos in Springfield, not the teachers in the classrooms, are to blame for the economic crisis. Their unfunded mandate systems, corrupt practices with regard to our pension system and mismanagement of public money in all areas, including education, have caused the crisis. Back in the 1960s, it was illegal for an Illinois teacher to work for a district under Social Security and the tax dollar.

How do I know? I am a Korean War era veteran. I spent 38 years in teaching in the Paddock area. I earned a master's degree plus 64 hours. My first month's paycheck in 1956 was $267. My bride, as an office clerk, without a degree, made $276. We earned our pension.

William J. Kiddle

Buffalo Grove

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