Growing pension costs are quickly crowding out the state resources that can be allocated for spending on classrooms and teachers’ salaries. Since 2000, Illinois has seen a more than 450 percent increase in teacher and administrator pension spending, while general education spending has increased just 17 percent, adjusted for inflation. Research from the Illinois Policy Institute found 39 percent of the money the state spends on education for this school year will be diverted away from teachers and students to meet required pension payments. With more money going to pensions each year, a smaller share is left for teachers and the classroom, as growth in direct education spending has been constrained by rising pension contributions. This leaves poorer districts at a disadvantage and contributes to a reliance on property taxes to pay for education.

How general education spending gets eaten up by pension spending:

• Pension costs commanded approximately 20 percent of the state’s total education spending only a decade ago, before doubling to where it is today.

• Since 2010, spending on pensions has more than doubled, to nearly $6 billion in the 2022 budget from less than $2.1 billion in nominal dollars. Meanwhile, education spending in the budget, including administrative costs, grew modestly to $9.2 billion from $7.3 billion.

To read more about how pensions are crowding out education costs, visit: illin.is/educrowdout.