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North Cook News

Saturday, August 2, 2025

Former state school employee Zelinski paid in $230K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $3.96M in retirement

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Former state school employee Paula Zelinski, who retired in June 2018, saved $230,405 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Zelinski would collect as much as $3.96 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes North Cook News.

The projection assumes Zelinski received $83,241 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Zelinski will have already received $257,289 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.

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