“I get we have a pension backlog that has to be addressed, but it has to be addressed in an honest way,” Rep. Gordon-Booth says of the Illinois Teacher Retirement System’s $71.4 billion in unfunded liability. “The feds aren’t sending money to poor kids to underwrite suburban teachers’ pensions.”
Read more here: http://www.pjstar.com/news/20170307/schools-using-federal-funds-to-offset-state-pension-costs
Illinois is the only state that taps federal education funds intended for low-income and special needs students–all to pay off pension debt Learn more here: TRS Surcharge Fact Sheet