Illinois is facing a teacher shortage. Eighty-seven percent of schools report problems finding enough teachers for positions available, according to a recent survey from the Illinois State Board of Education. For the positions that do get applicants, school leaders often say less than half of their candidates have the proper qualifications.
One of the problems with attracting qualified teachers is tied to a retirement system stuck in the past. The state needs to make it easier to add teachers who are interested in the profession as a short-term career option. These are people with the qualifications and life experience to benefit young students in the classroom. Adding more choices could turn that around.
Currently, the system punishes and disincentives anyone who would want to teach only for a few years, such as seasoned professionals looking for a second career or retired industry executives looking to give back.
That’s because the Teachers’ Retirement System and the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, the retirement systems most Illinois public school teachers are a part of, provide generous, guaranteed retirement income — but only for those who have been lifelong public servants.
Teachers who start working today aren’t eligible for retirement benefits until they have worked for at least 10 years, regardless of their age at the time they start employment. An individual who transitioned to teaching at 58 would need to work until they were 68 in order to be eligible for any sort of retirement benefit.
If they instead retired at 67, the national retirement age, they would be eligible only for a reimbursement of the money taken out of their check and put into the retirement system, about 9% of their income each year, without any of the interest that money may have accrued in the meantime.
At the state level, there are 1,061 active teachers age 65 and older, and 33% of them have not worked long enough to be eligible for retirement benefits. In Chicago, it’s even worse with 48% of active employees age 65 and older not pension-eligible. If they don’t continue working, their only option at retirement is a refund.
Many professionals who have spent careers in business, trades, law or public service would gladly teach for five or eight years to give back. Imagine a 60-year-old engineer teaching physics. A retired business owner teaching entrepreneurship. A former lawmaker explaining firsthand how laws are written and budgets are passed.
Illinois pension benefits may be generous, but they force everyone into a one-size-fits-all system. Short- and medium-term workers need flexibility and portability, both of which are incompatible with a defined-benefit pension.
One option already used in states such as Indiana and Michigan is to make available 401(k)-style plans for those who prefer them. This would allow vesting over a much shorter period of time, supporting teachers who may be starting later in their career and want to retire sooner.
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Illinois House Bill 5246, recently introduced by Rep. Travis Weaver, R-Pekin, would do just this: presenting a new option for teachers who are 50 or older when they enter the Teachers’ Retirement System.
This is an option that has already been extended to members of the State Universities Retirement System with great success. Among active employees in the system, 18.2% have opted into a defined contribution plan, rather than receiving a pension. That’s up from 17.7% in 2024 and the highest ratio seen since the program’s inception in 1998. The opt-in ratio was even higher at 45% when considering just the new members who joined in 2025. It’s expected that in the next 10 years, 30% of all employees will have selected to opt in to this system.
Second-career teachers deserve to keep building value in their retirement without worrying about whether they will put in enough years to be a part of the one-size-fits-all pension.
It’s a win for Illinois’ teacher shortage and retirement security.
Mark Batinick is a senior fellow for the Illinois Policy Institute and served in the Illinois General Assembly from 2015 to 2023, representing the 97th District. LyLena D. Estabine is a senior policy analyst at the institute.
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