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Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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It’s hard to believe anything could have limited public school teacher pay in Illinois. Have you seen their salaries on your school district’s website?
“The greater the share of the budget that’s sucked into keeping up with fast-growing retirement benefits, the more schools must stretch what is left to pay for salaries, staff and classroom needs. Because the state doesn’t pay enough of the costs, districts rely more on local property taxes.”
This doesn’t work because too much is spent on education and the associated services and programs in Illinois. It isn’t because “the State doesn’t pay enough”. The cost of education overall is just not a good value and continuing to repeat what doesn’t work is just stupid.
My take on it is different. Basically it seems you believe that local school districts feel worried and constrained by the state’s expenses for public school teacher pensions. Then, you might equally be assuming that the state legislators are losing sleep over what local school districts are paying their employees. I think neither side worries all that much about the other side’s financial obligations. Now, if both sets of obligations were the responsibility of the same people instead of two sets of people I think you’d have a stronger case. Do you worry somewhat equally about your own expenses and… Read more »
Pensions are like a cancer; they keep growing and getting worse. With 3% annual increases and huge starting numbers at young ages it is totally unsustainable. The only smart choice for a young person is to leave the state, as so many are. Illinois has been destroyed by the public sector.