Teachers call for lifting cap on pay increases

SPRINGFIELD - The state's largest teachers union on Wednesday called on Illinois lawmakers to lift a state-imposed cap on the size of pay raises they can receive, saying the current 3 percent cap is driving many teachers out of the state.

Standing in front of stacks of petitions containing more than 55,000 signatures, and surrounded by educators from several school districts and Illinois State University, Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin said raising the cap is needed, "to help save the teaching profession."

"We all agree the threshold is hurting students, educators and the teaching profession," Griffin said.

Per the cap imposed last year, if a school district that is part of the Teachers' Retirement System provides any educator with more than a 3 percent increase during the last 10 years of his or her career, it is responsible for paying all the associated pension costs resulting from that raise. The rules also apply to higher education institutions that are part of the State Universities Retirement System.

From 2005 until the new law took effect, the cap was 6 percent, officials said. And before 2005, it was 20 percent.

The cap was intended to prevent what some people have called pension "spiking." That is, giving someone a large pay increase in their final year, or final months of service to raise their "final average salary" which is used to calculate pension benefits.

But Kevin Gannon, president of the local teachers union in Geneva, said the cap limits the ability of veteran teachers to take on additional duties such as coaching, directing plays and musicals, or filling in for colleagues when they're out sick and the district can't find a qualified substitute.

"When it comes to coaching sports and other extras, the district is bringing in less-qualified people to fill those rolls rather than violate the 3 percent threshold," Gannon said.

In April, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 1952, which, among other things, would have put the cap back at 6 percent, which is what Griffin said IEA wants. However, a House committee voted earlier this month to strip out that portion of the bill. It is now awaiting a final vote on the floor of the House.

Illinois has about $135 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, and the Teachers' Retirement System accounts for about three-fourths of that amount.

Officials at the news conference did not say how much a higher raise cap would cost the state.