http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...rs-pension-fund-teachers-union-public-pension
2 teachers union lobbyists teach for a day to qualify for hefty pensions
<!-- Module ends: article-header--><!-- Module starts: article-subtitle (ArticleSubtitle) -->State legislature opened a small window that they climbed through in 2007
<!-- Module ends: article-subtitle-->
<!-- Area starts: article-first-block --><!-- Module starts: article-byline (ArticleByline) -->October 22, 2011|By Ray Long and Jason Grotto, Tribune Reporters<!-- Module ends: article-byline-->
<!-- Module starts: a-body-first-para (ArticleText) -->SPRINGFIELD ? ? Two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees toward a state teacher pension once they served a single day of subbing in 2007, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has found.
Steven Preckwinkle, the political director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow union lobbyist David Piccioli were the only people who took advantage of a small window opened by lawmakers a few months earlier.
Preckwinkle's one day of subbing qualified him to become a participant in the state teachers pension fund, allowing him to pick up 16 years of previous union work and nearly five more years since he joined. He's 59, and at age 60 he'll be eligible for a state pension based on the four-highest consecutive years of his last 10 years of work.
His paycheck fluctuates as a union lobbyist, but pension records show his earnings in the last school year were at least $245,000. Based on his salary history so far, he could earn a pension of about $108,000 a year, more than double what the average teacher receives. :facepalm:
2 teachers union lobbyists teach for a day to qualify for hefty pensions
<!-- Module ends: article-header--><!-- Module starts: article-subtitle (ArticleSubtitle) -->State legislature opened a small window that they climbed through in 2007
<!-- Module ends: article-subtitle-->
<!-- Area starts: article-first-block --><!-- Module starts: article-byline (ArticleByline) -->October 22, 2011|By Ray Long and Jason Grotto, Tribune Reporters<!-- Module ends: article-byline-->
<!-- Module starts: a-body-first-para (ArticleText) -->SPRINGFIELD ? ? Two lobbyists with no prior teaching experience were allowed to count their years as union employees toward a state teacher pension once they served a single day of subbing in 2007, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has found.
Steven Preckwinkle, the political director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow union lobbyist David Piccioli were the only people who took advantage of a small window opened by lawmakers a few months earlier.
Preckwinkle's one day of subbing qualified him to become a participant in the state teachers pension fund, allowing him to pick up 16 years of previous union work and nearly five more years since he joined. He's 59, and at age 60 he'll be eligible for a state pension based on the four-highest consecutive years of his last 10 years of work.
His paycheck fluctuates as a union lobbyist, but pension records show his earnings in the last school year were at least $245,000. Based on his salary history so far, he could earn a pension of about $108,000 a year, more than double what the average teacher receives. :facepalm:
