I am a retired (due to disability)CPS Teacher. I am not happy at the misrepresentation and alluding to the big pension teachers get. Do people not know that we DO NOT pay into the Social Security Fund - thus any portion and percentage of our salary that the CPS pays into our pension fund is at or under what a general citizen should pay. I was a bookkeeper before becoming a teacher, and I also handled payroll. One of the biggest expenses my company had was matching monies that each employee paid into the Social Security Fund. A friend of mine, after working 40 years in the private sector and always paying into the SS fund retired with a staggering amount of $1,200/monthly. He traded love for the "special kids" and bypassed a job at CPS. With the Chicago Teacher Pension Fund being well run, and investments chosen wisely, well a teacher can and does retire with a decent retirement amount. I for one am happy that the CTPF is separate from the rest of the state, because, even though my teaching career was cut short due to my disability, I receive a $1440.00/monthly. Oh, and my working career at the "Board" was 13 years. Now that is not a lot of money by any standard, but who can work and pay into SS for 13 years and receive $1,400.00/month? It is all in the investing. Wouldn't it be nice if the Social Security fund could say the same about all of the monies paid into and entrusted to them to help with a person's retirement?
Oh, and those high salaries, they include the benefits paid to the teachers, including Health and wellness insurance, Dental Insurance, and of course pension money!