The Cranberry Eagle
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 Article published November 12, 2012

Official: Educators’ pension system broken



JACKSON TWP — The executive director of the beleaguered Public School Employees’ Retirement System said Monday night that the pension system is $26 billion in debt and that there’s no easy solution to fix it.
Jeffrey Clay spoke to the Seneca Valley School Board Monday night about the ailing and controversial pension plan, which covers hundreds of thousands of state school employees from bus drivers all the way up to superintendents.
The school board for several years has been extremely critical of the pension system because, according to member Eric DiTullio, the state continues to foist unfunded mandates on school districts which in turn drive up property taxes and deficits.
Clay during the presentation said the PSERS pension system works if properly funded, but added that it hasn’t been properly funded since 2002.
The executive director cited both short-term and long-term issues that have negatively impacted the system.