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Post by title1parent on Mar 31, 2010 7:08:52 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=368951&src=Students should be feted for academicsLetter to the Editor Published: 3/31/2010 Our school systems are in dire straits with funding. The idea of being forced to lay off teachers in Naperville-Aurora Districts 203 and 204 seems almost beyond imagination. A number of months ago I wrote about my concern that District 203 was spending funds to buy land for lacrosse fields. I also observe both school districts using school buses and drivers to bring physical education students to the bowling alley for about 1/2 hour of play. But teachers' jobs are not secure, and class sizes are to be larger. The Daily Herald has feted on the front page, the athletic prowess of Candace Parker and Evan Lycacek - both deserving of recognition for their years of training and resulting successes. Yet when scholastic students bring home the gold for competition in math, literature, history, etc. in the Illinois High School Association tournament, they get a small article without pictures on the bottom of Page 3. Did they not put in years of effort and determination as well? Where are our priorities? Betty Hill Naperville
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Post by title1parent on Mar 31, 2010 7:28:47 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/opinions/2131222,2_4_AU31_LETTERS_S1-100331.article Benefits key to balanced budgetBeacon LTE 3/31/10 The state and Gov. Pat Quinn need to develop a keen perception for the obvious if they ever hope to dig their way out of the current budget hole. Let's look at the lucrative pensions the state hands out. I do understand that most teachers and state workers do not pay into Social Security and will not draw from those benefits as I will. That aside, a recent Sun-Times article showed that 80 percent of all state workers draw a pension between 75 to 80 percent of their last year's wages, after only 20 years of service. I retired three years ago from a local Fortune 100 company, and after 34 years of service my pension was 40 percent of my last year's wages. I am most familiar with the Teachers Retirement System because my wife is a recipient. I was stunned to find that a teacher with 35 years of service is eligible to draw 74.6 percent of their last year's wages. That means a teacher making $75,000 in their last year could begin drawing a $56,000 annual pension as soon as age 55. For an administrator making $250,000 per year it would equate to an $189,000 annual pension. Pensions for all state employees and teachers should have a portion deferred until age 65. In my above example, the teacher drawing the $56,000 pension would be able to draw $40,000 at retirement and the remaining $16,000 at age 65. By deferring these costs, the state would save millions of dollars over the next several years. The answer is not the constant tax increases proposed by the governor. As painful as it may be, state government needs to do what the private sector always does, live within their means. If they don't, then the voters of Illinois should express their outrage at the ballot box this November! William K Miller, Big Rock
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