30,000 Six-Figure Illinois Educators Cost Taxpayers $3.7 Billion

Forbes ^ | 6/4/2018 | Adam Andrzejewski

[simpson96]

We mapped the exclusive club of 30,000 Illinois educators with either salaries or pension payouts greater than $100,000 costing taxpayers $3.7 billion annually.

Illinois teachers are starting their three-month summer break. But when it comes to teacher salaries, there’s no break for taxpayers. Last week, the Illinois legislature passed a new mandate requiring base pay of $40,000 for Illinois educators. (Cue the teacher’s union cheering.)

Yet, lawmakers refuse to cap the payouts for the most highly compensated public employees who burden the system with unsustainable salary and pension costs. The payouts are so large, by our calculation, the equivalent of $1 out of every $3 in individual income tax is paid out to retired teachers.

For 30,000 Illinois educators, the new “minimum wage” is $100,000+. Nearly 20,000 of these employees are currently working, while the other 11,766 are retired – pulling down six-figure pensions.

(snip)

Here’s how it breaks down in just three of 850 school districts:

•In Township HSD 214 in Arlington Heights, 617 working educators made $100,000 or more in addition to 578 retirees receiving six-figure annual pension payouts.

•In Palatine Township HS 211, there were 594 educators pulling down six-figure salaries and 533 retirees receiving six-figure lifetime pensions.(snip)

•In Naperville CSD 203, there were 374 educators making $100,000 or more while another 278 retirees received six-figure pension payouts.

(snip)

•Joyce Carmine, former superintendent of Park Forest SD 163, retired on a first-year pension of $290,526 (2017). Last year, Carmine earned the #1 salary in the entire system with a massive salary increase from $81,382 (2000) to $398,229 (2016). She earned this largess even though less than one out of four students in her district were considered ready for the next level and 88 percent of students were considered low-income.

[ClearCase_guy]

But they are so underpaid! And it is unfair to point out that they get the entire summer off! [/s]

Government schools should be ended. All education should be handled through the family or through private businesses which attract customers by providing excellent service at a fair price.

[pepsionice]

At some point, like the mortgage-bubble of 2008...this teacher-pay-bubble will burst, and you might see a whole school system shut down for twelve months as they figure out to do more with less.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This is the end result of countless PR campaigns to pass bills and public referenda to increase teacher pay. The original “for the children.”

[mewzilla]

If you have a choice, buy an inexpensive home. Save the money you’d be paying some retirees to live large and put it aside toward your own retirement.

[mewzilla]

Since states can’t print money, I guaran-damn-tee you every state legislature is counting on a bailout from Uncle Sugar.

[BenLurkin]

“Educators”

Not really

[ealgeone]

Since states can’t print money, I guaran-damn-tee you every state legislature is counting on a bailout from Uncle Sugar.

You mean they're hoping to take money from the rest of us to pay off this mess.

[jeffc]

Pay the teachers more and the educrats less, even maybe get rid of some! Of course, if you get rid of the gravy train, maybe some of those overpaid and unnecessary “education administrators” would look for other work.

[SMARTY]

Here at the university-we have professors who won’t even pick up a phone or answer an e mail during ‘break’

They adhere to their union contractual arrangement.

In the mean time... staff works all year and right through lunch on a regular basis. Of course there is no compensation for taking care of problems, answering the phone... etc. during lunch or if you happen to come in early. You just do it.

[magna carta]

yes and that would include the elimination of NWO curriculum

[hal ogen]

What a waste of taxpayer money. Of course, they are always underpaid and overworked.

[wally_bert]

I worked for a university.

Never again.

[Liz]

That's chump change. The Supt's and their assistants must make zillions.

=========================================

He was in charge when a school massacre took place, the Broward county Florida Supt, Robert Runcie,
(hand-picked by Obama) got a $28,000 raise and additional benefits under his contract.

The deal brings Runcie’s salary to $335,000 and extends his employment through June 30, 2023.

Under the new contract, Runcie would:
-- Be able to trade in 15 of his 29 vacation days for a cash value of $20,500.
-- Get $48,000 contributed annually from the school board for retirement plans
-- Be allowed to earn a pension based on four years of his service in Chicago,
estimated to cost taxpayers $80,000.

More than 30 people lined up mostly to praise Runcie’s work since he started in 2011. Leaders of local community organizations, businesses and schools praised improved student achievement, Runcie’s communication skills and inclusion and protection of immigrants and minorities under Obama's vaunted "Promise" plan.

Runcie collected $53 million tax dollars from Obama for keeping minorities off arrest records.

Then the massacre took place.

[gibsonguy]

6 figures for a 9 month job with numerous days off. For many teachers much of their time is spent destroying every value you have taught your child. Sounds like fertile ground for rats and it is.

[poinq]

Firstly, as a Illinois resident I call it fraud. Its absolute theft. Deserving or not deserving the income is no longer an argument. The public unions in Illinois are running debts that can never be paid. And I blame the Tribune and local news as much as anyone. They are always running editorials asking for someone to fix the debt. And then when someone tries, they run editorials about how the government is not doing enough.

What this article leaves out is that the local school systems pay salaries but the state pays the pensions. So a teacher or administrator can get a huge pay increase in the final three years of their work career which sets them up to make more in retirement than they ever made working. And in Illinois these retirements are not taxed by the state. So they can get 6 figure incomes without paying the state any income tax.

In Wisconsin, Scot Walker stopped this kind of thing by forcing the employees to pay a larger share of their salary to the pension. And by stopping the large final year pay increases.

[PGR88]

Here in NY, when my kids’ kindergarten teacher retired, she went out and bought a Mercedes E 4Matic coupe to celebrate.

[neverevergiveup]

This makes me ill, and is totally out of control. At the very least, I hope these numbers are inclusive of the costs of all benefits (e.g. health insurance) - but even with that its outrageous.

I knew a very dedicated and very good internist who would start rounding on his patients in extended care facilities and in the hospital by 6:30 am every morning, then spend a long day seeing patients in his office, followed by tons of paperwork etc. He did this for many years, and then developed metastatic colon cancer. He worked until 1 week before he died. He did not live in an extravagant home (it was nice, but not a mansion), and did not live a flamboyant lifestyle. Still, with all that work he didn’t clear a whole lot each year (malpractice insurance, office staff, office space, administrative costs, etc. etc.), and when he died it was only by selling the practice that his wife was able to guarantee a comfortable retirement.

However, as a doctor the left will say he was overpaid, while they scream about how we spend too much money on war ships and fighter jets and not enough on teachers.

[AppyPappy]

If it is like here, it is more like 10 months. The kids get 3 months. Teachers stay later and arrive earlier.

[pt17]

I am very glad I left that butthole state back in the late 70s. The handwriting was on the wall back then. The teachers unions were starting to take over the schools 10 years earlier than that.