Joy of six (figures): 738 NYC teachers getting $100G+ pensions NY Post ^ | 2/21/10 | SUSAN EDELMAN and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN
They get an "A" in reading, writing -- and retirement.
There are 738 educators collecting city pensions more than $100,000 -- and three make more than $200,000, records show.
The $100,000-plus club makes up 1 percent of about 70,000 retirees in the city Teachers Retirement System, which doled out $3.8 billion in benefits in 2009.
It's the costliest of the five pension systems that threaten to suck the city dry.
"All the pension funds are ticking time bombs," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute think tank.
And the problem could worsen with the teachers union demanding raises of 4 percent over both of the next two years. This would add $5,600 a year to salaries of teachers now earning $70,000 or more. For every $1 pay hike, pensions go up 60 cents.
A Post Freedom of Information request to the TRS produced the list of the 738 highest-paid retirees -- who pull in a total of $84 million a year.
The 738 is more than five times the 142 retirees with pensions over $100,000 in the city's largest pension fund, NYCERS, whose 130,000 pensioners include transit, sanitation and other workers.
Ten of the retired educators have collected the generous payouts for 19 years.
