Story Archive

Triple Dipping

David Piccioli, 65, spent his career as a lobbyist for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and gets a $31,485 pension from the Teachers Retirement System, plus a little more than $30,000 from time he spent as a legislative aide. But Piccioli argues he is also entitled to a teacher’s pension, worth about $36,000 per year, for the time he spent teaching in a classroom. He taught for a grand total of one day, as a substitute, after he and another teacher’s union lobbyist found a loophole in a law signed by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich — who is now in prison for corruption — that gave them a teacher’s pension if they taught at least one day. Carl Draper, Piccioli’s attorney, says his client “did what the law allowed and in good faith,” and should be granted the additional pension. (RC/Chicago Tribune) ...What the law allowed, perhaps. Good faith, not even close.