The real truth on teacher pensions
In his Fencepost letter published April 12, Jack McCabe writes, “Teachers, members of the SEIU and AFSCME unions receive retirement income and benefits that are far greater than the private sector. These unions only pay the equivalent of what private sector employees pay into Social Security.”
While the first sentence may be true in rare cases, there is a reason for this. These employees are not allowed to participate in Social Security and being municipal employees, their pay throughout their careers is lower than the private sector. For example: When I was a tenured teacher with a master’s degree, my wife went to work in the private sector and her first year’s salary started $20,000 higher than mine. My first year teacher’s contract was less than $10,000.
The second sentence is completely false. Teachers pay in 9.4 percent of their salary to Teacher Retirement Service. Workers covered by Social Security contribute 6.5 percent. The state of Illinois is supposed to contribute 6.5 percent to the TRS to make up for the fact that we don’t pay into Social Security. The state of Illinois has not made a full payment to the TRS in 40 years.
In addition, the Illinois State Assembly has on several occasions “borrowed,” and never paid back, from our retirement funds to fund state projects such as roads and bridges and cover shortfalls in the general fund. It would be as if the state reached into your IRA, took money out and never paid it back. Even with all of the state “theft” and lack of contributions TRS has never failed to pay its annuitants.
The system was set up to never run out of funds, at least until recently, and if the state had made its contributions and repaid what it “borrowed” the system would be perpetually in the black.
I have worked as an independent contractor for the last 25 years to help make ends meet. I have paid into Social Security and have enough quarters to receive a full benefit. Unfortunately, because I receive a TRS pension I will only receive about 33 percent of my Social Security that I have worked for and paid into. This happens in hundreds of cases of teachers each year.
Perhaps Mr. McCabe should do a little “research” before throwing out information he knows nothing about.
Gary Tipps
Sleepy Hollow