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Illinois pays more for teachers pensions in wealthy districts, group says

Story Created: May 3, 2012 at 6:16 PM CDT

Story Updated: May 3, 2012 at 6:17 PM CDT

By Anthony Brino | Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Wealthy school districts in Illinois receive less state funding than not-so-wealthy ones, except when it comes to teachers' pensions.

Taxpayers are subsidizing teachers' pensions in wealthy school districts, according to a report released Thursday by the Illinois Policy Institute, a right-of-center think tank.

The issue of shifting pensions costs has created strange bedfellows.

The institute's report comes after Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn voiced support for making school districts pay for more of teachers' pensions.

The report says that local school districts should take over the state’s share of teachers pension funding.

"Today, every unit of government — from municipalities, to park districts, to Chicago Public Schools and state government — is responsible for paying the 'employer share' of pension costs,” said John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. “Only in K-12 education outside of Chicago is this not done."

Shifting the state’s pension costs to the local school districts would cost, on average, 3.7 percent of the district's annual budget.

Currently teachers pay about 9.4 percent of their salaries into the Teachers Retirement System, which the state matches, with districts paying less than 1 percent.

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