The Illinois pension crisis is the worst in the nation. Illinois teachers unions routinely opine on pensions, but rarely tell their members the whole story.
For example, Illinois Education Association’s leading resource for teachers is an outdated pension explainer that was released in 2012. It dealt mainly with pension proposals drafted nearly a decade ago and before bipartisan legislation passed the General Assembly, which was subsequently struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court.
What’s missing from IEA’s information on pensions?
Any mention that the Teachers’ Retirement System could run out of money. Or any mention that it is the public pension crisis driving Illinois’ exorbitant property taxes, which are the second highest in the nation.
In other words, there may be no money left for younger teachers when they retire. And in the meantime, the broken system is making it more expensive for them to live here.
“Now we have huge shortages of teachers because salaries are low in Illinois for educators, and due to the pension crisis, the state can’t even promise they will have money to support teachers who are already retired. It’s decimating the education field,” retired special education teacher Deb Roti said.
Illinois teachers unions need to be honest with their members and support commonsense reforms that are best for all Illinoisians.
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