The Public Eye: New Sacramento schools chief in line for hefty pension bump
Published: Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014 - 12:00 am
Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014 - 12:16 am
José L. Banda stands to receive an extra $61,400 annually in retirement for leaving Seattle Public Schools last month to become superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District.
If he completes his new three-year employment contract, he will increase his annual pension benefit to about $223,300, according to a Bee analysis reviewed by a financial planner who is expert in public school pensions.
That’s compared to the $161,900 annual pension he would have received at age 60 had he never re-entered the California State Teachers’Retirement System after leaving the state in 2012 to run the Seattle school system.
Banda, 57, started his Sacramento job on Friday under a three-year contract that pays $290,000 a year. He replaced Jonathan Raymond, who left the district in December after four years, and Sara Noguchi, who served as interim superintendent after Raymond’s departure.
Banda, in an interview, said he is not thinking about his pension.
“There are so many serious challenges that Sacramento City Unified School District faces,” he said. “We’ve got issues with declining enrollment. We have a budget that still isn’t sound. We’re not able to move forward until we address the budget. We have a fractured relationship with the union. I’m really focused on that.”
Banda said he is committed to Sacramento and intends to finish his career here after tackling the issues he described.
“I think this whole thing around the pension is a detractor,” he added. “I’m focused on the work, what needs to be done, how I can help with my experiences and my background.
Banda, however, mentioned the subject in a June interview with Seattle radio station KUOW. In that conversation, Banda said he was interested in moving to Sacramento to be closer to his family – as well as pension considerations.
“As I near the latter part of my career,” he told KUOW, “it’s an opportunity to get back into theretirement system that I spent almost my entire career in.”
CalSTRS did not share Banda’s pension details, since he has not yet applied for retirement. But The Sacramento Bee calculated Banda’s pension benefit using CalSTRS’ basic formula, with guidance from Gregory Lucas, a Sacramento certified financial planner who advises many educators.
Banda spent 32 years as a California educator, most recently as superintendent of Anaheim City School District, before moving to Seattle.
If he had chosen to collect his pension at age 60 without ever returning to work in California, he would have been entitled to an annual benefit of 2.2 percent of $230,000 – his salary when he leftThe Public Eye: New Sacramento schools chief in line for hefty pension bump - Education - The Sacramento Bee: