Teaching Profession

Pension Payment Debated in Chicago

By Catherine Gewertz — January 31, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Faced with one of its biggest budget deficits in 10 years, the Chicago school district wants to reduce contributions to its teacher pension fund.

In an annual speech to a civic group, Chicago schools Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan said last week he would seek a waiver of state law to allow the district to keep the $10.5 billion pension fund financed at 80 percent of its liabilities, rather than the required 90 percent.

That’s just one of the measures under consideration to deal with a projected $328 million deficit anticipated for the $4.2 billion fiscal 2007 budget.

Mr. Duncan is considering cutting into administrative, custodial, transportation, and food-service functions. Reading and mathematics tutors and Renaissance 2010, the effort to replace underperforming schools with smaller, better schools, could be trimmed. Declining enrollment and rising costs are among the factors driving the deficit, officials said.

“People need to understand,” Mr. Duncan told The Chicago Tribune, “that if we don’t get more money, kids will get hurt.”

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, responded by boosting Chicago’s education allotment in his proposed state budget from $70 million to $100 million. But district officials said cuts still must be made.

The Chicago Teachers Union decried the pension-fund proposal, arguing that the district should have better managed the money collected from a property-tax levy earmarked exclusively for the fund since the mid-1940s.

“We think it’s fiscally irresponsible,” said Rosemaria Genova, a spokeswoman for the 26,000-member American Federation of Teachers affiliate. “There are 108 departments the district can look to for cuts before it makes them on the backs of members and students.”

When the Illinois legislature gave Mayor Richard M. Daley control of the Chicago schools in 1995, it consolidated the pension levy with several other levies and allowed the district to use that money for operations. The schools “have been scraping for every operational penny,” said district spokesman Michael Vaughn.

But the district is obligated to make contributions to the fund if it dips below 90 percent. That happened in 2005, putting the district on a yearly payment schedule. Now it faces a projected $70 million contribution in 2007.

Related Tags:

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession The State of Teaching 'You Don't Know Teacher Tired': Educators Sound Off on Misconceptions
Hear what teachers featured in EdWeek's The State of Teaching Project say makes their jobs more difficult.
Frank Rivera teaches 7th grade ELA at Chaparral Star Academy in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 15, 2023.
Frank Rivera teaches 7th grade ELA at Chaparral Star Academy in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 15, 2023.
Montinique Monroe for Education Week
Teaching Profession Opinion Why I’m Happy Being ‘Just a Teacher’
Not every teacher is an aspiring administrator. That’s a good thing.
Amanda Myers
3 min read
Abstract vector illustration depicting the process of teaching and learning.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Teaching Profession What the Research Says Do Teachers Really Earn More After Leaving the Classroom? Not Necessarily
Nearly a decade after leaving a big urban district, many teachers have yet to recoup income, a study finds.
4 min read
Illustration of woman and steps made of cash.
Getty
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching Here's What Keeps Teachers on the Job
Hear why these teachers stay in the job, despite its challenges and lower pay.
Fourth graders do a warm up dance at the beginning of Helen Chan's math class at South Loop Elementary School on November 15, 2023, in Chicago.
Fourth graders do a warm-up dance at the beginning of Helen Chan's math class at South Loop Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2023, in Chicago.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week