CONTACT: Lise Bang-Jensen
(518) 434-3100
More than 1,000 retired New York State school teachers and administrators are entitled to annual pensions of more than $100,000, according to pension data posted today on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website. The new database from the New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) includes name, benefit rate, retirement date and last known employer when available, for 134,796 people collecting pensions in 2009.
The highest pension benefit last year went to James Hunderfund, who retired in 2006 as the Superintendent of the Commack School District on Long Island with a maximum benefit of $316,245. Additionally, Hunderfund serves as the Superintendent of the Malverne School District, his contract there -- also available on www.SeeThroughNY.net -- stipulates that he earn no less than $225,000 annually through June 30, 2011. Other notable NYSTRS pensioners include Frank Tassone, the former superintendent of the Roslyn School District, who ranked 33rd in 2009 with a maximum allowable benefit of $174,035. Tassone recently served a prison term after admitting he took part in the theft of $2 million from the school district.
A total of 1,004 retired educators were entitled to pensions with an annualized value of at least $100,000 in 2009, the data show. These included:
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2 people with a benefit between $250,000 and $300,000;
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11 people with a benefit between $200,000 and $250,000;
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60 people with a benefit between $150,000 and $200,000; and
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930 people with a benefit between $100,000 and $150,000.
NYSTRS pensions in 2009 totaled over $5 billion. The average pension for all retirees was $38,489. The average pension for educators retiring in 2009 was $48,238.
SeeThroughNY allows the public to examine government expenditures on the Internet. It includes the wages of more than 1.5 million employees of New York State government, public authorities, cities, counties, villages, towns and school districts. Also posted are teacher and school superintendent employment contracts for 733 school districts, state legislators’ office expenditures, pork barrel projects, and a benchmarking feature for comparing local government and school district spending. The site was launched July 31, 2008.
The Albany-based Empire Center is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, one of the nation’s leading non-profit 501(c)3 think tanks.
A table listing the 100 highest-paid pensioners in 2009 is available here. (Note that the “maximum annual benefit” does not necessarily reflect amounts collected during the year. Some retirees began collecting benefits in mid-year, or may have chosen to collect a lower monthly benefit in order to preserve a larger death benefit for survivors.)
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