Alright. I'm ready for all of the negative posts about teacher pensions. Oh. Wait. The ridiculously high pensions are going to former members of administration. No teachers made this list, at least from BR. Shocking.

Who wrote this article? The department of redundancy department? Does an article this short really need to close with "a quick rundown?" Anyway...

Sure, it hurts to see others' good fortune (reverse Schadenfreude?), especially when one is struggling in a crappy economy (I even hear some had to switch from premium to regular gas in the 'Benz). But this deferred compensation was "the deal" over the decades these folks worked, and it's their due. And BRRSD is NOT cutting these checks - TPAF is.

So now we know the four who are over $100K. How about the 40+ whose pensions are under $10K/yr? How many retired B-R District retirees are there (i.e., are these four simply outliers or representative of many)? What is the median? Does any of this really matter?

I'm waiting for someone to suggest the District should start denying tenure to ALL new employees and keep a revolving door of 22-25 year olds who all make under $50K/yr? Hell, make 'em all 1099 contractors and pay 'em $11/hr with no benefits. Even empty nesters would pine for today's home values if that ever came to pass.

Finally, readers should know that public employees are required to pay into the pension fund (unlike the State, which fulfills this legal obligation when it feels like it). Current District employees contribute 6.5% of their salaries, soon to be 7.5%.

DISCLAIMER: I have no dog in this fight; I don't work for BRRSD.

It should be noted that administrators (superintendents, principals, supervisors) negotiate separately from teachers. Administrators contracts are not negotiated by representation from the local NJEA union.

I believe the Administrators are in the same pension system, but work under a different contract and are part of a different union. And top management (assistant super and super) negotiate their own contracts. Someone correct me if this is wrong.

Bottom line is we can not afford this level of generosity. What percentage of their last 10 years salary is the pension? Don

It should be noted that Barbara Kane, in particular, is well worth her pension! I am a B-R teacher and mother of 4 kids who went to B-R schools. Barbara dedicated her life to education, and B-R was blessed to have her.

All the rest of us working in the corporate world are in economic shock not to mention crushed by NJ taxes - 100k, plus health benefits (worth no less than 20k), annually for the rest of your life? So doing the math, multiply by 20 future years (minimum)...$ 2,400,000. Less 7% of their average salary over 30 past years - for arguments sake $75k x .07 = $5250x30= $157,500. $2,242,500 for this pension is the reason this state's taxes are crushing. Even if you cut the numbers in this example in half, government workers' and teachers' pensions are still unsustainable. If anyone wants to correct this math please elucidate... Teachers and govt workers should be paid an appropriate salary up front (like everybody else), and the pension system abolished.

A 100K pension for the rest of your life. How can any sane person not get angry at that ? I second the suggestion that the pension system should be abolished. Everybody gets paid a reasonable salary, gets reasonable benefits, and reasonable raises (based upon proper evaluation). Once you retire, the district's obligation towards you ends. You should save for retirement like everybody else in this country is expected to. And as for the revolving door, it might not be a bad thing. New blood will bring new ideas. Will be more willing to work hard unlike a lot of tenured teachers. As for teachers starting work at 7 am and working until 6 pm, obviously it is an exception and not the norm. In the corporate world, I am expected to come home and check into the office in the evening or at night. I don't complain. It is just a part of the job.

Ms. Gladfelter, Your property tax going up has nothing to do with salaries/benefits. I've explained this many times to people, but they don't seem to understand it. I'll try again. NJ schools spend plenty per pupil. Where that money comes from and how it is dispersed is the problem. NJ is 48th in state support of schools. While elite wealthy districts in MD for example might get 30% funding from the state, the same district in NJ might get 0-10%. While NJ's cities get 80%...this is a fairly common practice nationwide for low income citiies. Your property taxes are high because this system requires schools to be funded directly at the local level, mostly from you. If it were funded by the state, as is the case in most States, the States varied revenue sources would come into play and less burden would be on you. Want lower property taxes? Start demanding that NJ becomes 25th in the nation for state support of public schools rather than 48th. Until then, don't complain about your property taxes while your schools receive 0-15% funding. Look up your district on the state report card and see how much your schools get.

Plus, the pension system has been funded, at least over 90% of it, from the net pay of its members. I say they should get out of letting the State do anything with it since they've paid so little into it.