“I’M A RETIRED (SCHOOL TEACHER), LIVING ON A PENSION…”

9/14/09

I sent the following letter to the Chicago Sun-Times in response to another installment in its series “Pension Bonanza”:


9/14/09

In today’s installment of its “Pension Bonanza” series, the Sun-Times reports that several union officials are collecting gargantuan pensions under an obscure 1957 law that allows retired local government workers to draw pensions based not only on their service in government, but also on time they spent, and on salaries they earned, working for labor unions, lobbying groups, and other non-governmental organizations. The Sun-Times cited, inter alia, Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon, who draws a city pension of $153,649 per year while still holding his union post. Especially interesting was the case of Reginald L. Weaver, who once worked as an elementary teacher in Harvey but who, for at least the last twelve years, has held various union posts, including president of the National Education Association, the job he currently holds. Mr. Weaver currently draws a pension from the state of Illinois of $226,485 per year, while, like Mr. Gannon, still holding his union post. Need I say that teachers in Harvey, or just about anywhere, for that matter, the people whom Mr. Weaver purportedly represents, do not make anything like $226,000 per year?

Mr. Weaver responded to the article by opining:

“It’s unfortunate that people focus on a pension rather than why kids in urban areas aren’t receiving the education they should. Those are the kinds of things I wish people would focus on.”

Three thoughts:

First, given that second sentence, I hope Mr. Weaver did not teach English. If he did, we may have found out why at least some kids are not getting the education they need.

Second, I’ll bet that Mr. Weaver thinks it’s unfortunate that people focus on his pension.

Third, many of are concerned about, if not focused on, why kids in urban areas aren’t receiving the education they should, or much of any education at all, for that matter. We realize that education is one of the surest paths to a rewarding life for these young people and to a better society for all of us. The reason that we don’t express such concern by going along with Mr. Weaver’s preferred solution to the educational problems of what he calls the “urban areas,” i.e., more money for “schools,” is that money for “schools” tends to find its way not into the instruction and guidance of young people or into fairly compensating outstanding teachers, but into the pockets of educational bureaucrats and union chieftains like Mr. Weaver.

Mark Quinn