Retired Charleston CUSD 1 employee Dawn Drake saved $82,927 toward her pension over 23 years working for public schools, Illinois Teachers' Retirement Fund (TRS) records show.
Over 40 years of retirement, Drake would collect as much as $1.88 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.
Drake, 55, who currently lives in Charleston, earned $20,514 in her final year at Charleston CUSD 1.
The projection assumes Drake will receive $23,663 in her first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After three years of retirement, Drake will have already received $73,140 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of her contributions to the state teachers' pension fund.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), 26.3 percent of Charleston CUSD 1 students met or exceeded the standards for the "PARCC" exams. ISBE reported that 55.6 percent of district's graduates were deemed "college ready" last year.
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