Thanks to Valley View school board members, taxpayers are on the hook for 100% of teachers' pension contributions. Will the "Friends of Valley View" approve similar pension "pick-ups", when new negotiations start later this year?
According to Illinois state law, teachers are required to contribute 9.4% of their salary into the pension system.
But VVSD teachers do not pay their legally mandated 9.4% teacher contribution. Their contribution is paid for by district taxpayers as part of the negotiated teacher contract known as “pick ups”. So not only are VVSD taxpayers on the hook for the school district portion of 0.58%, and the state match of 9.4%, they are also on the hook for the teacher portion of 9.4%.
Click on link to read more of the article: http://thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com/vvsd10191pensionmill2.html
Did you know taxpayers were on the hook at 100%?
Share your comments.
Share your comments.
With the state crisis as it is now, I think that all teachers should contribute their fair share towards their pension. Teachers in Valley View and every other district in the state, including Glenbard 87, should contribute.
ReplyDeleteAs a taxpayer in the VVSD I feel it's long past time for the teachers and administration to pay their share of the pension. I can't think of any private sector retirement plan where employees are not expected to contribute. The VVSD Board members are not negotiating with the teachers as they should. They are just "giving away the store" because it's other people's money. The Board is not looking out for the taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteHow to treat retirees.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the last paragraph of Dennis Byrne's Oct. 18 column "Should Pensions be a Top Priority?" I was really shocked at his attitude. His solution to the pension problem is for the state to renege on its commitments and "let the retirees sue." Really? The best advice Byrne can give is to make a lot of old public servants suffer?
Whom exactly is he demonizing here? Firefighters, police officers, teachers, public works employees: except for a few numbskulls who game the system and make the headlines, we're talking about hardworking, ordinary citizens. What have they done to deserve the "let's make them suffer" treatment? They have bought homes, raised families, supported local businesses, and served public needs. I would like to ask Byrne: why are you so disdainful of these people? Are you angry at living in a secure community? Are you outraged that your property is protected? Are you furious that your children are educated? Does it gall you to see well-maintained public facilities? So why should public employees have to sue to receive their promised benefits? Why should their livelihoods be placed in jeopardy at a vulnerable time in their lives? After decades of having substantial amounts of their pay deducted for retirement benefits, are they to just shrug their shoulders when the state of Illinois says, "Oops, let's just forget about those pension benefits you've been paying for." What a shabby way that would be to treat large numbers of our fellow citizens, and what an irresponsible course of action for Byrne to suggest.
Keith Johnson, St. Charles
If the "pick-ups" were part of a negotiated contract, I don't see a problem. There really would be no difference between "pick-up" or a higher salary.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned that the state decided to borrow from their pension fund. I doubt that anyone would be happy if the state did the same thing with their 401K or other retirement savings.
So for the sake of argument, lets say the pension system is changed again and teachers, cops, firefighters and other government employees pay up to 15% of their salary into the old pension system in order to keep their current benfits. Others choose to opt out and pay into a 401K plan, where their contributions will be matched, like some private companies already have in place.
ReplyDeleteWill this satisfy all of those who want to see reform?
What happens when the State and/or local municipalities decide they are not going to match (at whatever % negotiated) the 401K? Do they go back to those employees and say sorry, we still can't afford the newly reformed pension plan?
Don't you see these types of events happening right now are an all-out assualt on the working men and women of this country?
The rich are pitting the working class against one another and telling them to blame one another. While the top CEO's of those companies and the richest 1% sit back and laugh at all of us suckers!
Please read the following letter to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune.
ReplyDeleteIEA rebuts Chicago Tribune’s and Civic Committee’s attacks on pensions.
As you are likely aware, the Chicago Tribune and the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago are encouraging lawmakers to come to next week’s veto session in Springfield prepared to reform the pension system. Attempts to do so failed last Spring. The plan the Civic Committee proposed is terribly flawed.
Today, President Cinda Klickna submitted an op-ed piece to the Tribune’s editorial page refuting the stance of both the Trib and the Civic Committee. Please read below and after doing so take action by writing your State Representatives and Senators and ask them to vote AGAINST SB 512!
“Dear Editor,
For years now, the Chicago Tribune has been railing against public pensions and carrying the flag for the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
The math of the Civic Committee’s plan is flawed and the Civic Committee knows it. SB512 would have cost taxpayers $34 billion more over 15 years and it would effectively kill the state pension systems.
Earlier this week the Trib called on lawmakers to pass pension reform to stop Illinois’ money from going “down the pension drain.”
Funny thing, the police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees in Illinois don’t consider the pension system “a drain.” They consider it their future. And the problems pension systems are facing are not of the public employees’ making. Employees have always paid their share.
Did you know that teachers don’t get social security? Loyally, they have paid their 9.4 percent of every paycheck into a system that is guaranteed by the state’s constitution to give them a secure retirement.
Did you know that the average private employer pays 6.2 percent social security plus another 4.4 percent into a 401k plan, costing that employer 10.6 percent of an employee’s salary each year?
If you don’t include all the money that is now owed to the teachers’ pension system because the state for years siphoned from it, the cost of a teacher’s pension to the public would be 7.01 percent of each teacher’s salary. The cost is less than in private industry.
Did you know that the average teacher’s yearly pension after 29 years of educating the youth of this state is $42,700 a year. Hardly “posh” as it’s been described in your pages.
The Tribune and the Civic Committee, a group of the state’s richest residents, want to place the blame of the unfunded pension liability on the employees. That blame is misplaced.
Have you thought about the future? Public school teachers in Illinois are ineligible to receive social security. If the pension system is killed off, what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of people who do now or will rely on that system for retirement stability? They have no social security to fall back upon.
Then what? Then what will the Trib and the Civic Committee do?
You act as if public employees are the enemy of this state. We are not. We are representatives of the majority of working people in Illinois. We are the middle class. We are busting our humps every day to ensure the children of this state have a bright future, that our residents are safe.
We are not the enemy. We are Illinois.”
glen brown says:
ReplyDeleteOctober 19, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Who is the Civic Committee? It is a group that attempts to maintain and improve its membership’s privileges while creating conflict in the public at large by controlling and buying media and by publishing its own website to mold public opinion. The Civic Committee’s tactics include an attempt to convince the shrinking middle class (and now its teachers) that the reason why “Illinois is broke” is the public pension systems in Illinois. Its tactics incorporate deflecting attention away from their avaricious profiteering and elitism; keeping public employees divided by attacking one group, such as teachers instead of firemen or policemen; diverting class conflict by turning the middle class and its teachers upon themselves through use of such rhetorical devices as faulty rationalizations; intentional misinformation; selected instances; repetition and slogans; causal oversimplifications; non sequitur; and appeals to fear, ignorance, and bias found on its obverse group’s website (Illinois Is Broke). Its schemes include using its own membership to compile reports and analyses disguised as impartial data (Sidley Austin LLP) and intimidating legislators in downstate meetings to make laws in the interests of the wealthy and powerful few.
What is the Civic Committee’s agenda? Government by the rich and powerful or by a duplicitous “not-for-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate and encourage the growth of the area’s economy and its ability to provide for its people” is based upon the impoverishment of others; the Civic Committee’s power is purchased. The “current mission” is the wholesale destruction of the entire middle class and the pension systems in Illinois, in particular, the Teachers’ Retirement System.
Who writes the laws by which the Illinois government operates? The Civic Committee. Who will profit from pension reform (to free up the cash flow and increase its profit margin) in Illinois? The Civic Committee. What retirement pension is the Civic Committee continuously attacking? The Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois. There are no equal rights when there is inequity of wealth and when promises are made to support and to preserve the fortunes of a few at the expense and victimization of the many.
What is Tyrone Fahner’s and the Civic Committee’s plan for Illinois teachers? They plan to address the state’s budget deficit in the interests of big business by destroying the teachers’ defined-benefit pension plan with severe and radical pension reform and maintain control of the economic and political policies of state and municipal governments; they plan to redistribute money away from the public employees’ defined-benefit pension plans and to their private interests and profits by proposing an unsecured, non-guaranteed financial option called a Tier 3 defined-contribution plan (or 401k) and rendering the present defined-benefit plan unaffordable and obsolete.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the Civic Committee not tell you? Forty percent of its membership is from the financial sector. The Civic Committee’s membership does not publicize the fact that its partners and associates shift the burden of their tax breaks and other loopholes to the public and that some of the state’s lost revenue is based upon promises that they will create more jobs; even though, their outsourcing of American jobs is disguised as “free trade” and has eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and has eroded the tax base of the State of Illinois; moreover, the Civic Committee members do not publicize the fact that they have hidden vast amounts of their corporate money in offshore bank accounts to avoid taxation and, thus, to increase their excessive profiteering – paid for by the rest of us.
Indeed, corporatists are alive and well in Illinois. The history of our State has been one of excessive greed and shameless hypocrisy, of corruption and oppression, of extortion and domination, of exploitation and deception, of selfishness and subjugation, of poverty and unemployment and inequitable taxation, of protection for the wealthy and their powerful interests, of exorbitant wealth for the few and scarcity of wealth for the many, in other words: government of the Committee, by the Committee, and for the Committee.
Don't be fooled by those who want to take benefits away from hard working middle class Americans!
Shame on you Cedra for rallying against teachers with your outrageous claims of lavish pensions and shame on you Rhonda for perpetuating these claims by allowing the misinformation.
Karl Gabbey says:
ReplyDeleteOctober 20, 2011 at 2:43 am
We know who is trying to destroy the TRS and steal our pensions. It is a cabal of vicious predators composed of the Commercial Club with its lobbying arm, Ty Fahner’s Civic Committee, and its propaganda mouthpieces, the Trib, the SunTimes, the Herald whose subscriptions I dropped eons ago. It is high time that we stop being polite and expose this LaSalle Street / State Street / Michigan Avenue criminal class that is threatening us and our families. These corporate criminals failed to put their puppet, Brady, into the governorship but are working diligently on our Democratic politicians in Chicago and Springfield. We need to stop this. We should do what the OccupyChicago movement is doing daily on LaSalle Street to expose these same banksters and other corporate criminals who are corrupting our democracy, robbing us of our livelyhoods, and destroying our future. We need to use the same tactics in exposing Fahner and his criminal organization by conducting daily marches in front of Fahner’s residence or the headquarters of the Commercial Club. If we do not take any actions to expose Fahner and his gang, they will continue to threaten us each time the legislature is in session.
I have been a member of the middle class all my working life. With my husband I have raised two well-educated children who now contribute to the economy and community life of this state. As an elementary educator I have given, endless extra hours to preparing a clean, efficient and tantalizing learning environment; to preparing differentiated and highly engaging learning activities; and to supporting all-school community events on weekends and evenings. I have given excellence to my profession and to the children and families of the community in which I serve.
ReplyDeleteI will no longer be part of the middle class if I cannot rely on my hard-earned pension upon retirement.
Do not be so short-sighted as to think this profession will continue to attract people with this dedication and expertise. Educated, young people will quickly realize that a career in education will not afford them a claim to the middle class. Who would choose such a career? Does this augur well for the future of our children?
Think about it!
Joseph Goebbels is credited with a statement that modern political strategists have seized as an eminently effective tactic: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
ReplyDeleteFact is, false never equals truth, no matter how often you repeat it.
Who is the Civic Committee? It is a group that attempts to maintain and improve its membership’s privileges while creating conflict in the public at large by controlling and buying media and by publishing its own website to mold public opinion. The Civic Committee’s tactics include an attempt to convince the shrinking middle class (and now its teachers) that the reason why “Illinois is broke” is the public pension systems in Illinois. Its tactics incorporate deflecting attention away from their avaricious profiteering and elitism; keeping public employees divided by attacking one group, such as teachers instead of firemen or policemen; diverting class conflict by turning the middle class and its teachers upon themselves through use of such rhetorical devices as faulty rationalizations; intentional misinformation; selected instances; repetition and slogans; causal oversimplifications; non sequitur; and appeals to fear, ignorance, and bias found on its obverse group’s website (Illinois Is Broke). Its schemes include using its own membership to compile reports and analyses disguised as impartial data (Sidley Austin LLP) and intimidating legislators in downstate meetings to make laws in the interests of the wealthy and powerful few.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the Civic Committee’s agenda? Government by the rich and powerful or by a duplicitous “not-for-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate and encourage the growth of the area’s economy and its ability to provide for its people” is based upon the impoverishment of others; the Civic Committee’s power is purchased. The “current mission” is the wholesale destruction of the entire middle class and the pension systems in Illinois, in particular, the Teachers’ Retirement System.
Who writes the laws by which the Illinois government operates? The Civic Committee. Who will profit from pension reform (to free up the cash flow and increase its profit margin) in Illinois? The Civic Committee. What retirement pension is the Civic Committee continuously attacking? The Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois. There are no equal rights when there is inequity of wealth and when promises are made to support and to preserve the fortunes of a few at the expense and victimization of the many.
What all of you fail to understand is that it is irrelevant what a teacher or any public worker pays into their pension. They receive 75% of the average of their final four years salary for life.
ReplyDeleteIt is well known that they will receive 4 x the amount in pension payouts than they have contributed including the match, so where is the fairness in that.
The system was based upon a life expectancy of 10 years after retirement not the 25 years we see now.
It should be very simple, what ever you pay in and receive as a match is your pension.
The local politicians who read this know that Quinn is mulling a 2% increase in the sales tax and another 2% income tax increase in 2013. This is to pay for pensions so we have a choice, More in taxes which will kill the State, go Bankrupt as a State which will certainly kill the State as well as pensions, or do pension reform now and have a chance of success.
Other States like New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana have it right.
But VVSD teachers do not pay their legally mandated 9.4% teacher contribution. Their contribution is paid for by district taxpayers as part of the negotiated teacher contract known as “pick ups”. So not only are VVSD taxpayers on the hook for the school district portion of 0.58%, and the state match of 9.4%, they are also on the hook for the teacher portion of 9.4%.
ReplyDeleteOnce again the correct phrase is NEGOTIATED!!!!
Don't blame the teachers, blame the unions and local school districts that are negotiating these contracts.
New contract is coming next year, what will it contain?
Karl said - "but are working diligently on our Democratic politicians in Chicago and Springfield".
ReplyDeleteWho do you think put us in this mess? The Democratic party who controls the Senate and state house. They have run this state for a very long time. Talk to Mr Madigan.
That's right! The Valley View school board negotiated this outrageous contract. Now that the teachers union gave the "Friends of VV" $16k in campaign contributions, we can guarantee a similar contract later this year.
ReplyDeleteHow can these people negotiate with the unions in good faith if they are on the take?
Why do the board hold the negotiations in secret? The public's not allowed in those meetings. Why?
Wow, the district pays the 9.4% contribution that's required from me every paycheck? I guess I should be looking for a refund then because that 9.4% has been coming out of my check every two weeks since I began working in VVSD in 2004. Some of you need to get your facts straight and not believe everything you read.
ReplyDeleteSetting the facts straight about pensions
ReplyDeleteBy Cinda Klickna
The media continue to publish inaccurate statements about the pension systems in Illinois. I would like to set the record straight.
What is TRS?
The Teachers’ Retirement System - established in 1939 by the state to protect retirement security of Illinois educators.
Why is there a problem with the pension funding?
Studies, task forces, etc., have all concluded the same thing: the state has not paid its required contributions. In 1996 legislators recognized this and passed a law requiring an increase in contributions each year to bring the pensions up to their required funding level of 90 percent. Then the legislators broke the law and made partial payments. Think of it like your credit card bill – if you fail to make a payment or merely pay the minimum, you are assessed fees, thereby increasing your bill. That is what the state of Illinois has done to itself.
For 2011, the state owes TRS $2.4 billion. Only $715 million would be required to pay this year’s contribution if the state had been paying its bill each year. But, another $1.7 billion is needed to make up for past unpaid costs.
Do teachers contribute to their pension?
Absolutely – teachers and administrators contribute 9.4 percent of salary every year of employment. And school districts contribute .58 percent of total payroll. State contributions and investment returns add to the fund.
Since 1940, teachers and districts have paid 100 percent of their required contributions every year.
Do teachers get Social Security on top of their pension?
No, a decision made many years ago by the state ruled that Illinois would not be a Social Security state when it came to its teachers. Teachers do not pay into Social Security. In fact federal laws, known as Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) actually reduce a Social Security benefit a teacher earned in previous work and reduce any survivor benefits earned by a spouse. (These provisions have actually caused some people in the business world to dismiss the idea of moving into education.)
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to put teachers into Social Security?
No. Under Social Security, a teacher would pay 6.2 percent of salary; the district would pay a matching 6.2 percent. Currently, a teacher pays more: 9.4 percent and the district pays less: .58 percent. The district is required to pay less so more money can be used for educational needs of students.
A 2007 study showed that moving teachers into Social Security would cost school districts an additional $3 billion in the first 10 years (from 2008-2018). If Social Security had been implemented back in 2004, the additional cost would have been more than $900 million a year.
What about moving teachers into a defined contribution plan (commonly known as a 401k)? First, there are questions about how this could be done when the state decided years ago that teachers would not be a part of Social Security since they are given a defined benefit pension.
Second, the state would actually see an increase in what is owed to TRS. The current retirees would need to be paid as per law; yet, without contributions coming into the system from active teachers, the state would need to make up the difference. A 2008 estimate put that additional cost at more than $25 million in just the first year.
And, the underfunded amount has not been addressed and would still need to be paid.
Aren’t pension benefits high?
Out of 87,000 retired teachers in Illinois, 17,269 receive a pension that’s less than $20,000. A few administrators (only 2 percent of retirees) receive large pensions of more than $100,000.
Remember that people receiving a pension have spent up to 35 years educating students and are reliant on the pension promised to them many years ago by the state.
Cinda Klickna taught at Southeast High School, serves as secretary-treasurer of the Illinois Education Association, and is a trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System.
Are you all aware that the money that is contributed by teachers & administrators in the State of Illinois receives some of the highest returns on investments? Corporate pension plans earn about 6% on their investments at most. In fiscal year 2010, the rate of return on the TRS pension plan was 13.5%! So, to answer your question, when you're dealing with billions of dollars being invested, you can imagine how much more money that 9.4% is earning. It's just too bad the State of Illinois has failed to make their required (as mandated in the Constitution) 9.4% matching contribution and has failed to pay back the 2.4 billion dollars it owes retired teachers in the State of Illinois.
ReplyDeleteVVSD Taxpayers are on the hook for ALL 3 portions, which is NOT FAIR.
ReplyDelete1. Teachers portion ******
2. District's portion
3. State's portion.
The State's portion is a separate problem.
This article speaks about the TEACHERS PORTION that's being absorbed by us taxpayers.
IT'S UNFAIR!!!
HOW CAN THE SCHOOL BOARD NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT THAT MAKES THE TAXPAYERS PAY THE TEACHERS' PORTION?
What you don't get is that pension deductions are taken out of the paychecks of the teachers every pay period.
ReplyDeleteIf the district increased the salary of teachers to cover this deduction is no different than if they just negotiated a higher salary to begin with.
This really is a non-issue.
Anonymous @ Friday, October 21, 2011 10:37:00 AM
ReplyDeletesaid "HOW CAN THE SCHOOL BOARD NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT THAT MAKES THE TAXPAYERS PAY THE TEACHERS' PORTION? "
Why don't you ask Cedra? Her husband is a teacher that is not paying his full share because the district that he works in negotiated a contract where the teachers get pick-ups.
Jeff: You are silly. What does Cedra's husband have to do with VVSD teachers' pension contributions? I applaud Cedra for speaking out against the lopsided pension funds for teachers. You're not winning in points here.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 12:28pm: This is a huge issue. Why? Because the VVSD school board negotiated a punitive contract that forces me to pay the teachers' portion of their pension contribution.
Obviously the deductions taken out of the teachers paycheck is not enough because we are paying a portion of their pension.
Those of us in the private sector could only wish that taxpayers would absorb a fraction of our pension contr.
This is clearly unfair.
"What does Cedra's husband have to do with VVSD teachers' pension contributions?"
ReplyDeleteFYI~ Cedra's husband used to teach in VVSD.
"Because the VVSD school board negotiated a punitive contract that forces me to pay the teachers' portion of their pension contribution."
So let's just raise their salary instead. Either way, the taxpayers would still be paying the same amount and we would be competitive with other districts in our area.
"Obviously the deductions taken out of the teachers paycheck is not enough because we are paying a portion of their pension."
Cedra said that the taxpayers are paying 100% of the teachers portion but yet teachers have pension deductions every pay period. If the district is paying 100%, how do the teachers get the money that was taken out refunded to them?
According to the facts provided by the Illinois Policy Institute, VVSD teachers are NOT paying their portion of pension contr.
ReplyDeleteDo you honestly expect us to take your word for it?
Try examining your paycheck. I've got tons of deductions in mine. One thing we know for sure, VVSD teachers are not paying their portion, taxpayers are.
Maybe the additional deduction's nothing more than gravy.
Give it up. Your argument is w.e.a.k.
@ Anonymous on 10/21 @ 6:52 PM, I'll tell you what, and anyone else on this posting for that matter, what can I do to prove that VVSD teachers actually pay the 9.4? Because the last time I checked, the deduction on my paycheck read "TRS Teacher Retirement System."
ReplyDeleteShould we meet somewhere and I can show you my paycheck? Should we have a public forum about this? Maybe Cedra Crenshaw can organize this since she seems to have all the answers.
I'm all for holding public officials accountable but you are wrong about this. It is simply not factual. If you're going to take the time to create a blog like this, you should at least get your facts straight. And this means INVESTIGATING the information you find to make sure it's actual true.
Anonymous 8:05am:
ReplyDeleteThe TRS deductions are probably additional contributions to your pension.
If you don't believe the facts published in this article, why not discuss it with your union. Ask them point blank - "Is it true VVSD taxpayers are paying the teachers portion of the pen contr?"
Frankly, it appears you don't know much about what's in your contract. VVSD teachers need to have a conversation with the teachers union.
You might want to do your homework before jumping on this shoot the messanger campaign.
Hey Anon 8:05am, why not call your union rep? They know it's true.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Il Policy Institute made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteDeductions show TRS.
Hey Anon 8:36 AM, I am a Union Rep. And it's false. Get the facts straight.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 5:35am:
ReplyDeleteIf you are a union rep, and Cedra's article is completely false, why not prove it?
Give Rhonda Reed-Slaughter a call, or email. Send copies of the documents supporting your claim. After all, Illinois Policy Institute did provide their proof.
Rhonda can be reached at rhonda@thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com.
Let us know how it goes.
Legal Eagle,
ReplyDeleteThe link that was provided was to a chart by the IPI but it did not provide any proof to show where or how they arrived at the chart.
Can you provide us with the link that shows the proof?
Thanks!
Legal Eagle,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a few days.
Have you found the proof that the information in the IL Policy Inst is accurate? A link to that documents that they used for their report?
I'd love to see Rhonda's TRS Handbook because mine doesn't read like hers. Further, I have paystubs from VVSD that shows 9.4% of my gross salary going to TRS.
ReplyDeleteOf course it does. The teacher's pay for their pensions, it just isn't useful information for those that just want to complain about teachers, valley view, janitors, Mitchem or anything else school. Thanks for doing what you do, I couldn't be a good teacher and I am glad that you took the time to do it. It's not an easy career.
ReplyDeleteWho really cares if its a "pick-up" or higher salary. What people really don't know is that TRS members cannot collect social security benefits. When the legislature starts messing with pensions, teachers have no alternative. They MUST contribute to the plan unlike a 401k.
ReplyDelete