Syracuse, NY - The men who used to lead the Fayetteville-Manlius and Liverpool school districts are among the top 100 highest-paid pensioners in the New York State Teachers Retirement Fund, according to the latest data base made public by a policy group. Philip Martin, who retired at Fayetteville-Manlius in 2005, received a $168,217 annual pension in 2009, the latest...
Philip MartinSyracuse, NY - The men who used to lead the Fayetteville-Manlius and Liverpool school districts are among the top 100 highest-paid pensioners in the New York State Teachers Retirement Fund, according to the latest data base made public by a policy group.
Philip Martin, who retired at Fayetteville-Manlius in 2005, received a $168,217 annual pension in 2009, the latest year available, according to the Empire Center for New York State Policy’s SeeThroughNY web site. That made Martin No. 44 on the top 100, Empire Center officials said.
John CataldoJohn J. Cataldo, who retired as Liverpool Central Schools superintendent in 2003, received $146,252, making him No. 87 on the top 100.
Post-Standard archives show that Martin made $194,000 in base pay in 2005, the year he retired, while Cataldo’s base pay was $148,000 in 2003.
Their pensions came nowhere close to the top of the list. That position belonged to James Hunderfund, who retired in 2006 as superintendent of Long Island’s Commack School District. Hunderfund had a $316,245 pension, Empire Center officials said.
Martin could not be reached for comment.
Cataldo said that when he started teaching in the 1960s, the pay was low but the pension formula was written generously to make up for it. When he retired nearly 40 years later, he said, that formula yielded a pension that was a high percentage of his average pay over his best five years, an option allowed to educators hired before July 1, 1973.
As teachers’ pay improved over time, he said, the Legislature scaled back the retirement formulas to rebalance pay and pension. His wife, Lucia, who also retired from teaching in 2003 with more than 20 years of service, collects a $23,390 annual pension, according to SeeThroughNY.net.
Cataldo said he understands that some people might resent his pension, but he does not feel guilty.
“I worked a lot of years and a lot of time and tried to do my best every day to do my job,” he said.
The web site released its new educator retirement data base Wednesday at www.SeeThroughNY.net . It includes information on 134,796 people collecting pensions in 2009 through the New York State Teachers Retirement System.
The pensions in 2009 exceeded $5 billion. The average pension for all the retirees was $38,489 but the average for those who retired in 2009 was $48,238, said Lise Bang-Jensen, senior policy analyst for the Empire Center.
Pensions are based on formulas that could include retirement age, length of service and an average of the three or five highest consecutive annual salaries.
Altogether, 1,004 retired educators – primarily administrators and frequently from Long Island – received pensions topping $100,000 in 2009, the data base shows.
A Post-Standard search of the data base found 13 Central New York educators, including Martin and Cataldo, whose pensions exceeded $100,000. They are:
From Fayetteville-Manlius: Anita Pisano ($119,292), a former assistant superintendent for instruction, and former Enders Road Elementary School Principal Robert J. Storrier Jr. ($105,446).
From the Fulton City School District: Mark Slosek ($133,997), former principal of Fulton Junior High School, and former Superintendent Michael J. Egan ($109,057).
Other Central New York retirees include: Paul L. Goodwin, former Cortland Enlarged City School District director of curriculum and instruction, ($101,682); Frederick N. Thomsen, former East Syracuse-Minoa superintendent, ($106,717); Martin L. Swenson Jr., former Fabius-Pompey superintendent, ($109,020); Timothy H. Barstow, former Marcellus Central superintendent, ($116,423); Peter Tamburro, former Oneida City superintendent, ($107,839); David N. Fischer, former Oswego City superintendent, ($102,048); and Walter J. Sullivan, former Skaneateles superintendent, ($131,353).