ONE PROFESSION.
TWO
You may have Tier 1 pension benefits. But you and your Tier 2 colleagues share the same schools, contracts, and union. The divide affects your future, too.
SCROLL TO FOLLOW THE FRACTURE
THE DIVIDE
GOES BEYOND
PENSIONS.
Tier 2 doesn’t just affect retirement. The divide reaches into your classroom, your contract, and the strength of your union.
Four ways Tier 1 members can be impacted if Tier 2 isn’t fixed.
The Constitution protects your pension.
IPI wants to change that.
Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution ↗ says public pension benefits cannot be diminished or impaired. This is the Pension Protection Clause protecting Tier 1 retirement benefits.
The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) is pushing to change that clause so lawmakers can reduce future pension benefit growth for current workers. Its published proposals include changes to annual pension increases and pensionable salaries.
In November 2028, Illinois voters are scheduled to decide whether to call a constitutional convention. A convention could open the door to weakening Article XIII, Section 5—and make cuts to promised Tier 1 benefits legally possible.
Fewer teachers.
More work for you.
Poor retirement benefits make teaching a harder sell to prospective educators and can push experienced teachers to consider other careers.
When schools struggle to fill vacancies, the work doesn’t disappear. You’re left covering more classrooms, taking on extra responsibilities, working with larger classes, and finding fewer substitutes when you need them.
Tier 1 teachers are among those carrying the extra load when schools are short-staffed.
Tier 2 is becoming the majority.
Your contract is at stake.
Tier 2 members are nearing a majority of active teachers in Illinois’ Teachers’ Retirement System. As their numbers grow, so will their influence within local unions.
Tier 2 teachers have good reason to seek better retirement benefits in contract negotiations. But fixes like an employer-funded 403(b) match cost money. School districts might have to make difficult financial decisions to afford Tier 2 retirement benefits. The raises and benefits Tier 1 teachers could have received otherwise might be where the district finds money for these new benefits.
Leaving Tier 2 unfixed at the state level puts more pressure on your local contract.
A divided union.
Less power for you.
A union is only as strong as the members who believe in it and participate.
Tier 2 members who need more money for retirement may decide they can’t afford union dues. Tier 1 members frustrated by difficult contract trade-offs may stop participating or leave, too.
Every member who disengages means less leverage when it’s time to negotiate your pay, your benefits, and your working conditions.
When teachers are divided, the entire union loses power.
THE TIME TO ACT IS
BEFORE THE DAMAGE IS DONE.
The 2028 constitutional decision is approaching. Tier 2 members are becoming the majority. Staffing pressures, contract trade-offs, and the strain on union solidarity affect teachers now.
This campaign is about preventing those threats from growing. The longer Tier 2 goes unfixed, the harder the divide becomes to close.
TWO TIERS.
ONE PROFESSION.
ONE SHARED
RESPONSIBILITY.
The Tier 2 teachers working down the hall want the same things you do: a fulfilling career, a secure retirement, and a school where they can do their best work.
You teach the same students. You work under the same contracts. You depend on the same union.
When schools can’t hire enough teachers, you’re the one covering classes. When your union becomes divided, your bargaining power suffers. And when constitutional pension protections come under attack, your retirement is at stake.
What happens to your Tier 2 colleagues affects you, too.
Learn about the plan and the concrete next steps at undotier2now.org/action.