According to Brian Brueggemann of the News Democrat, School districts in the metro-east region have paid more than $1.8 million in pension penalties since 2005 because they gave end-of-career raises above 6 percent to teachers and administrators.
The districts were required to make the payments to the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System under a 2005 law that was designed to discourage school districts from spiking the pensions of teachers and administrators by giving them large, end-of-career raises.
In the metro-east, East St. Louis School District 189 leads the way in penalty payments, having forked over $514,787 since 2005. District 189 gave end-of-career raises above 6 percent to 67 employees.
Penalties for other local districts in the region include: •Belleville School District 118: $49,408 •Belleville Township High School District 201: $61,762. •Cahokia Unit District 187: $98,783 •Mascoutah Unit District 19: $107,311 •O’Fallon Community Unit District 90: $58,900 •O’Fallon Township High School District 203: $61,898 •Bethalto Unit District 8: $124,784 •Collinsville Unit District 10: $76,280 •Granite City Unit District 9: $211,928
The figures are from a statewide database compiled by the Chicago Tribune