Village News - Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

As a retired teacher, I would like to clear up some misconceptions on a few points regarding teachers’ pensions.

Many people seem to think that teachers receive their pensions as a “free” benefit when in fact they pay into their own retirement account.

The average retired teacher paid into his/her retirement for more than 26 years and receives less than $2,700 per month in benefits.

Unlike corporate workers, teachers are required to contribute to their own pensions (usually eight percent) to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), which is a higher than the ra...