Game Of (Pension) Pick-Up In Public Schools

State law says most public school employees in Illinois “shall make contributions” toward their future pensions – with 9.4 percent of their salaries deducted for retirement, which otherwise is substantially funded by taxpayers.

But the law has a loophole, allowing public school districts to “pick up the member contributions” if they desire.

A months-long Better Government Association review found many Chicago-area school systems are doing just that – paying the employee pension share as an additional form of compensation for top administrators and, in some cases, teachers.

The benefit can be especially lucrative for school superintendents, whose average base salary – pay minus perks – was $193,000 last year in Cook County.

Of 10 suburban public school districts surveyed by the BGA, all paid the employee pension share for superintendents, amounting to, on average, an extra $22,600 in compensation during the 2013-2014 school year.

What’s more, the BGA found this benefit was not clearly spelled out in superintendent employment contracts, which noted salaries but not dollar figures associated with pension contributions – raising transparency questions.

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