Put pension blame where it belongs

The letter published July 15 in Your Views from Ms. Cheryl Puhl once again shows that the general public really has no full understanding of the issues with surrounding teacher pensions. First, part of the issue is that this includes not only teachers, but all municipal employees as well: our beloved firemen and police officers.

Second, the first warnings concerning the funding of pensions in the state of Illinois were issued in 1945. Yes, the constitution of Illinois that was voted upon in 1970 continued the guarantees of the pensions, but our elected legislators ignored the problems that have remained in this state for 68 years.

It is time for the blame be properly placed at the feet of the elected officials who have ignored this problem for so many years. Many governors stopped funding the pensions when there was plenty of money and did patronage grants instead of fulfilling their obligations. The current officials are trying to fix the problem, but many have been in office long enough to have taken care of this before we reached this crisis.

It is time to stop blaming the teachers who cannot vote a fix to the system and look to our legislators to find a compromise to help the state of Illinois get out of this mess.

Joanne Meyerhoff

Buffalo Grove