Lincolnshire, IL – Adlai Stevenson HSD 125 is plagued not only with outrageous pension burdens, but also with gross mismanagement and corruption, according to Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Stevenson High School, like other Lake County government institutions, gouges taxpayers for outrageous salaries and pensions while completely mismanaging the government employees and students in their charge.”
“Stevenson High School student dean, Paul Weil resigned amid his alleged inappropriate texting with students. A second dean, Nicolas Valenziano had to resign after a video of his racist attack on a student was reported.”
“Students were caught in a pervasive, organized, cheating effort. But that didn’t compare to the wholly inappropriate sexting scandal. Perhaps worst of all, wealthy parents actually gave up custody of their junior or senior students in order to divert student aid from truly deserving students.”
“These government schoolteachers and administrators are rewarded for their inept governance with lavish, outrageous pensions. The Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) is one of the most bloated pension systems in the state. No matter how poorly these bureaucrats perform, taxpayers are on the hook to pay them until their death.”
On average, Illinois government teachers are only employed about 27 years before they are eligible to retire and collect full pensions. The average age of an Illinois teacher at retirement is only 59.
“The TRS is only about 50% funded, and this is what the proposed Pritzker income-theft amendment is all about. Pritzker has placed an amendment on the November 3 ballot to change the state flat-rate income tax to a graduated income tax. If passed, this graduated tax will decimate the state’s middle-class.”
“Between the mass exodus of Illinois residents and businesses to more tax-friendly states and the huge loss of jobs and income from Pritzker’s lockdown, Illinois’ middle-class will virtually disappear. Lake County has lost more than 7,600 residents.”
Here are just a couple of the bloated government pensions at Stevenson High School:
James S. Hintz, Stevenson HSD 125 retiree, has a current annual pension of $306,373. He will collect a stunning $9,271,559 in estimated lifetime pension payments.
Timothy D. Kanold retired from Stevenson HSD 125 and currently collects $274,681 a year from TRS. His estimated lifetime payout is $8,371,466. He had to invest only $278,892 of his own money for that payout.
Click Here to view all top Stevenson HSD 125 pensions.
“Illinois government employees are employed for only 20.1 years on average in order to collect these lavish, gold-plated pensions. And for every dollar they deposit in their own pension fund, taxpayers are forced to fork over $4.74. Add to that a 3% COLA, compounded for all but IMRF, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Illinois’ government pensions are insolvent.”
“Rather than put an income theft amendment on the ballot, Pritzker should have pushed for a pension reform amendment,” said Tobin.