What does 4 years as a public school teacher and one term as the most unpopular mayor in your city’s history get you?
What does four years as a public school teacher and one term as the most unpopular mayor in your city’s history get you? A public pension worth almost $4 million, with the potential to be higher; here’ the story, from a report out by Bryce Hill at Illinois Policy:
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is currently set to receive a pension worth an estimated $3.8 million through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund and the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.
He qualifies for these benefits thanks to multiple loopholes in the state’s pension code. His pension payout could ultimately be worth far more – maybe $5.53 million – by further leveraging these loopholes after four years in a classroom and his first term as mayor.
Now, as I noted above, Johnson is the most unpopular mayor in Chicago’s history, with an approval rate of just 14%:
New poll, 14% Favorable Rating for @ChicagosMayor
— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) October 29, 2024
Change Research
854 interviewed pic.twitter.com/CAgFeaNd40
Seems like a liberal assessment, and others agree; as conservative Chicagoan Mark Weyermuller joked online, “Who are the 14%? His staff?”
To add context to Johnson’s striking disapproval in Democrat stronghold Chicago, fellow Illinois Policy reporter Mailee Smith revealed that President Donald Trump actually received a greater “share of the votes” in 2024.
It’s no secret that Illinois has financial commitments it can’t afford and its pension program is utterly broken (progressive stranglehold on the levers of power for decades will do that to a once-solvent state); here are some of the numbers from Hill:
The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund currently has $14 billion worth of unfunded liabilities and a funded ratio of 48%. The Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund has $14.7 billion in unfunded liabilities and a funded ratio of 22.2% – next-to-worst local system in the nation.
Too often I pride myself on being both morally and intellectually superior to the modern progressive class (they’ve set quite the low bar), but looking at Johnson’s cushy pension package, I have to wonder where all my morality and brains got me—another Democrat getting the last laugh on our dime!
Image: TDKR Chicago 101, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.