A review of suburban Chicago school labor contracts show that at least a dozen districts are offering post-retirement bonuses to teachers and administrators. The bonuses are largely used to reward educators for staying with a district for a long time and to offer higher earnings after the state limited educator salary increases.
The bonuses are calculated differently from district-to-district, such as a flat amount; a set figure multiplied by an educator's years of service; or a percentage of an educator's annual salary, which can be lucrative in affluent districts that pay six-figure salaries.
School officials have acknowledged that payouts to individual educators aren't always publicized or transparent.
