By Jonathan Ingram
12/12/2012
Things still aren’t looking up for the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS. You’ll remember that it earned a dismal 0.76 percent return on its investments in fiscal year 2012, after predicting 8.5 percent returns. Earlier this year, TRS lowered that expectation, but only slightly: the system is still predicting 8 percent returns this year. But...
Things still aren't looking up for the Teachers' Retirement System, or TRS. You'll remember that it earned a dismal 0.76 percent return on its investments in fiscal year 2012, after predicting 8.5 percent returns.
By Chris Andriesen
12/05/2012
A member of our community sent the following email to Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-Crystal Lake) and Gov. Pat Quinn. Subject: 6258 and 4% more the taxpayers will be on the hook for Mr. Franks, Ms. Althoff, Mr. Quinn, Although I agree that comprehensive pension reform must happen in Illinois, how can...
For most Illinoisans, paid sick days count on a use it or lose it basis. But that
By Jonathan Ingram
10/25/2012
On Thursday, the Teachers’ Retirement System announced its annual investment returns for fiscal year 2012. You may recall that it was predicting 8.5 percent returns. So what kind of returns did it actually get? A meager 0.76 percent. For comparison, the S&P 500 grew7.39 percent during fiscal year 2012, while the Dow Jones Industrial average grew 7.92 percent and...
By Jonathan Ingram
10/03/2012
After years of denying that the pension funds are in trouble, the head of the state's largest pension fund is finally acknowledging the crisis.
Just over the past five years, 71 cents from every new dollar set aside by state government for Pk-12 education went to teacher retirement costs.
By Collin Hitt
05/02/2012
The problem State education funding is designed to ensure a base amount of money is available to every student in Illinois. To that end, the state strives to send more money to poor districts and less money to districts with a healthy property tax base. But a bird’s eye view of Illinois education spending reveals...
By Ted Dabrowski
10/13/2011
Public employee unions balked at pension reform when it was introduced this spring because they claim government workers already have “paid their fair share” by kicking in “8 percent, 9 percent or more from each paycheck” to their retirement funds. But when it comes to public school teachers in Illinois, paying their own way to...
