Most people think teachers are underpaid and poorly provided for, but not all of them are. Records show that 738 former NYC educators get city pensions of more than $100,000/year (that includes some from city institutions of higher education). In total retired teachers get $3.8 in pension money, making them the biggest recipients of all of the cash-strapped city’s pension programs. "All the pension funds are ticking time bombs," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute think tank.
If the Teachers Union gets the 4 percent raises it’s asking for this year, pension costs will rise even higher. In total NYC paid $6.8 billion to provide for all of its approximately 750,000 retired workers last year, and the cost for next year is projected at $7.3 billion, reports the Post.
Still McMahon says the high teacher pensions will probably stay: "There is absolutely nothing you can do, unless you go to the United Federation of Teachers and say to them: 'This is looking kind of scary—would you care to give up some of your benefits?'” Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg threatens to lay off 2,500 teachers if the UFT doesn’t settle for lower raises. Other bad spending choices have been exposed through reports of the city's Rubber Rooms and a large, unused pocket of funds within the DOE that no one can access.
