Nearly 38 percent of Illinois Teachers Retirement System assets are in so-called alternative investments.

Illinois’ teacher pension system is structured to allow local school boards to agree to generous contracts, knowing taxpayers across the state will foot the bill. This system should change so that local school boards cover their own pension costs. That way, they will bear the full cost of salary increases they decide on, rather than pushing much of that cost onto unaware state taxpayers.

Since 1998, more than 20,000 state university workers have opted into a 401(k)-style plan instead of the traditional pension plan.

In 2010, the unfunded debt related to pensions and retiree health care costs for local and state government workers across Illinois was $203 billion, the equivalent of more than $43,000 per household. In just six years, the total debt Illinois households are on the hook for has jumped to $56,000, or 31 percent. That’s a $13,000 increase for each household. Total unfunded debt for state and local governments in Illinois now totals $267 billion.

More than 50 percent of the state’s $4.1 billion budget for public universities is spent on retirement costs alone.