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No Decision on Whether Schools Will Dodge Pension Burden
Legislators have been pouring over ways to correct more than eighty-billion dollars in unfunded state pensions-- the latest proposal isn't shifting the costs to school districts or universities.

But it wasn't voted on either. The house failed to vote on the new measure Thursday. It was Pat Quinn's decision to eliminate schools from the previous plan.

District-202 Superintendent Steve Wilder says he can't speculate on the governor's mind change, but he does know he's trying to do what's right.

"It's been pretty clear for quite some time that both the governor and other legislative leaders have wanted to do something about pensions," Wilder said. "And the bottom line is they're trying to make something work."

The new proposal cuts the state's annual retirement contribution by decreasing the annual cost of living for retired public employees.

It suggests school districts though paying pension increases of late-career teachers. Abingdon Superintendent David Black, whose already holding his judgement, says that's still an unknown burden.

"We're going to have to pay for any increases an employee gets during the final years of calculation for their pension," Black said. "That just means that the costs are going to increase but now, we are not going to have any idea what those will be."

And it's not clear how soon it will be voted on either.
05 31 12 by Newsroom
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