Over 1,500 retired educators of Greater Los Angeles receive eye-popping pension payouts of $100,000 or more
Over 1,500 retired educators of Greater Los Angeles receive eye-popping pension payouts of $100,000 or more
Bad Education: Transparent California Releases 2014 CalSTRS Pension Data
TUSTIN — Today, TransparentCalifornia.com released 2014 pension records for 256,305 CalSTRS pensioners, received through a series of public records request.
The data reveals that at just the 10 biggest school districts in the Greater Los Angeles area 1,541 CalSTRS pensioners took home pension payouts of $100,000 or more in 2014. The average pension for those who worked 30 years or more at these districts was $69,002 for the year. Of those who retired in 2000 and later, the figure was $75,554. (These payouts do not include the value of generous health benefits.)
Transparent California is California’s largest and most comprehensive database of public sector compensation and is run by the California Policy Center and Nevada Policy Research Institute.
Statewide, 8,888 CalSTRS retirees received pension payouts of $100,000 or more in 2014. The average pension for those who worked 30 years or more was $66,641 for the year. Of those who retired in 2000 and later, the figure was $74,910.
To view the data click here. To explore the data by specific school district click here.
“Widespread six-figure pension payouts for retired educators challenge the popular conception of the poor retired teacher struggling to get by on a fixed pension,” said Mark Bucher, president of the California Policy Center. “The release of this data will give policymakers, journalists and Californians-at-large better context of hot-button issues surrounding teacher contracts and compensation.”
The three biggest CalSTRS pension recipients in the Greater Los Angeles area in 2014 were:
- William Habermehl, Orange County Office of Education, who received $347,856
- Richard Bray, Tustin Unified School District, who received $307,135
- Edward Hernandez Jr., Rancho Santiago Community College District, who received $304,652
The top five biggest pensions statewide went to retired educators in the Greater Los Angeles area. The three biggest CalSTRS pension recipients outside of Greater Los Angeles in 2014 were:
- Marilyn Miller, Hillsborough City Elementary, who received $280,035
- Johanna Vandermolen, Campbell Union Elementary, who received $278,003
- Phil Quon, Cupertino Union, who received $274,899
Based on the ten biggest school districts in each region, the average pensions of those who worked 30 years or more by other California region were:
- Bay Area: $65,414
- Sacramento & the Central Valley: $63,682
- Central Coast: $60,532
- Greater San Diego: $65,605
Ten biggest school districts by total payroll in Greater Los Angeles
| Name | County | Avg. Full-Career Pension |
| Greater Los Angeles = LA County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Ventura County | ||
| Los Angeles Unified | Los Angeles | $67,786 |
| Long Beach Unified | Los Angeles | $66,147 |
| Santa Ana Unified | Orange | $73,714 |
| San Bernardino City Unified | San Bernardino | $67,177 |
| Garden Grove Unified | Orange | $75,199 |
| Capistrano Unified | Orange | $78,250 |
| Corona-Norco Unified | Riverside | $77,363 |
| Fontana Unified | San Bernardino | $68,569 |
| Riverside Unified | Riverside | $68,119 |
| Anaheim Union High | Orange | $73,483 |
Transparent California is a project of two nonpartisan, free-market think tanks, the California Policy Center and Nevada Policy Research Institute. Learn more at TransparentCalifornia.com.
