Update: ABC news stands by its lies. Let them know what you think.
The anti-union Illinois Policy Institute issued a report that claimed most teachers in Illinois don’t pay their share of the TRS contribution.
By any standard, this is a Big Lie.
It is a lie because it misreads what many contracts say. A typical teacher contract will say that the board will “pay” the TRS contribution, which only means that they will send the teachers’ payments to TRS. Teachers do not literally send a check to TRS anymore than other workers send a check to the Social Security Administration.
In some cases where the local district does actually pay part of the TRS contribution, the salaries teachers receive are typically lower.
But none of that mattered to the lazy news department at the Chicago ABC affiliate.
Chuck Goudie, who laughingly claims to be the ABC investigative reporter, did a breathless report simply repeating the false talking points of the IPI.
No comment from TRS was requested by the crack investigative reporter. No reaction from the IEA. Goudie
By any standard, this is a Big Lie.
It is a lie because it misreads what many contracts say. A typical teacher contract will say that the board will “pay” the TRS contribution, which only means that they will send the teachers’ payments to TRS. Teachers do not literally send a check to TRS anymore than other workers send a check to the Social Security Administration.
In some cases where the local district does actually pay part of the TRS contribution, the salaries teachers receive are typically lower.
But none of that mattered to the lazy news department at the Chicago ABC affiliate.
Chuck Goudie, who laughingly claims to be the ABC investigative reporter, did a breathless report simply repeating the false talking points of the IPI.
No comment from TRS was requested by the crack investigative reporter. No reaction from the IEA. Goudie