Subject: Teacher Needs Help
From: neil koreman
Date: Mon, May 16, 2011 at 8:38 PM
Subject: Teacher Needs Help
It pains me to watch the virulent attacks on public employees like me. Primary targets are the pension systems that support police, firefighters, nurses and teachers in their retirement. In Illinois, this debate now endangers my own family. Please consider the following:
- Public sector employees are not covered by Social Security. Nor are we covered by employer 401K programs. The individuals who choose to serve our communities rely on public pensions for retirement security.
- I have never missed a payment on my pension plan. 9.4 percent of my salary is removed from my paycheck by the Illinois Teacher Retirement System. I have no matching dollars to boost my retirement savings. I have no discretion in the investment of my retirement savings. I follow the law and expect my state to do the same.
- The Illinois crisis, like those in other states, has resulted from the fiscal mismanagement of public dollars. Over the past 20 years, the Illinois legislature has not honored its pension obligations. Those obligations total less