This day of reckoning should have come years ago. Because the state matches school district contributions, rendell and the legislature have "fixed" the problem (short term) three times by just assuming the stock market would get better. Every fix has just put the problem off a few years and made it worse.

Teachers do contribute, but the problem is that it is a defined benefit (as opoosed to a defined contribution) plan. This means teachers and legislators get an 8.5% return every year whether the investments made or lost money.

I'll save this post for the next time some local district goes on strike and we hear all the teachers crying poor mouth again Some of you have short memories.

Sprawl, please join us in the teaching ranks. You won't be crying "poor mouth" -- but you will probably quit after the first few weeks. It's a tough job and it's getting tougher. That is not crying "poor mouth." Talk to any teacher -- in the suburbs or in the city. Our children face so many challenges today. It would hurt your heart to hear the stories our children tell us about their home life.

Beaver's teachers Miss Canfield and Miss Landers had the ideal job. Ahhh....the good ole days.

One of the main reasons that this country is going down the toilet is the excessive and outdated benefits these various unions get for their workers.....teachers, police, city workers, auto workers, Harley workers, etc.

Please don't give me this BS that these jobs are so critical we must pay these people great salaries...and then pay their outrageous pensions as well. People in every other profession must save for retirement themselves, why not these union professions? They are bankrupting us.

I can't even keep track of all the 40 and 50 year old retired police and garbage workers from NYC and Long Island now living in Lancaster. No wonder taxes are so hign in New York. Why don't they work until retirement age of 65 like most everyone else? I just heard a quote from a town council person somewhere in Oregon who said "we are paying three police forces. The one currently working, and the last two generations of retirees". SIMPLY RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!

Teachers benefits are quite good already...if anything they need to be scaled back a bit....including nixing the pension program.

Lets keep the full amount of money in the pension fund but, lets pay out according to the competency rate of the students. 42% competency-you only get 42% of your pension. There's no reason to raise my taxes so you can support your pension. You are bragging about picking the right job. A lot of us worked in industries that had pensions but when the companys folded, so did their pension plans. If your plan is failing to keep up, adjust it yourself according to the market the way I did. With all the garbage going on in the stock market and such, I didn't lose a penny. I am still making at least 4.5% on my investments. Last year, before I moved things into safer investments, I made 23%. Many lost almost 50%, simply because they sat back and hoped someone else would take care of it for them. To those people-you're going to have to work longer than you planned. This should go for the teachers too. I am a high school dropout with a GED. I pay attention to what's going on. The only one who will take care of me, is me. I can't ask the taxpayers to pay my retirement. That's the way a "SPOOCH" operates.