It Needs To Be Honoroed
To the Editor:
My pension does not need to be reformed; it needs to be honored. I am a retired public school teacher. I did not earn or pay into the Social Security system during my years of teaching. I instead paid into the Teacher Retirement System every paycheck (almost 10 percent each month). This was not a choice; it was an automatic deduction from my paycheck. My employers also paid into the Teacher Retirement System. The TRS invested and continues to invest the money contributed to the system, with an average rate of return of 9 percent per year over the last 30 years.
However, 1952 was the last year the state of Illinois contributed its actuarial share to the TRS. Now, the