And this is what the politicians mean when they say that we cannot cut funding to the education system… It’s all about them, their perks, health care, pensions, vacations, and keeping them from paying any and all taxes on their pensions.

Loopholes? Yes, the ones the unions made sure where in there. And we wonder why our frikin taxes are so high? Remember, it’s all for the children. My A$$.

Loophole allows educators to collect both salaries and pensions: The Buffalo News

State waivers permit retirees to double dip

During his tenure as Pioneer Central School District’s superintendent, David F. Kurzawa mastered the challenges of running a sprawling, rural school district. In retirement, he mastered the challenges of working the state pension system.

Kurzawa collected paychecks from two districts in his final months with Pioneer.

Then, once the 56-year-old educator left the Pioneer payroll with an $87,175 state pension, he started collecting a full salary as interim superintendent in the Silver Creek School District. That job paid him another $90,000 for 11 months of work.

“I didn’t plan on going [back] to work in any way but was called and offered a position,” Kurzawa said. “I’ve worked many years, and I think my experience and guidance has helped the districts I’ve gone to.”

It’s not unusual for retired educators to return to work full time while also collecting their pensions.

The state retiree who most benefits from this practice is James H. Hunderfund, 64, a Long Island superintendent who makes $200,000 a year from one school district on top of his $316,245 pension from a nearby district. And while no educator in Western New York can match Hunderfund’s $516,245 in payments, two dozen, including Kurzawa, have double dipped in the past three years alone.

Retired educators who are younger than 65 are not supposed to be able to earn more than $30,000 annually from the public sector and still be allowed to collect a full pension.

But the state offers retirees a loophole.

School districts claiming they can’t find anyone but a retiree to fill a job can ask the New York State Education Department for a waiver. Once the waiver is granted, retirees are permitted to keep their full pensions as well as collect full salaries. The state receives about 435 waiver requests a year. Only 10 to 15 a year are denied.

Double dipping is especially rampant on Long Island, where at least 40 retired administrators draw a salary as well as a pension, with some of them serving in their “interim” postretirement positions for years.

Waivers are routinely approved for Western New York educators, as well.

Since 2005, school districts in Erie and Niagara counties requested 34 waivers to hire 21 retirees, several of whom have had multiple assignments, according to records The Buffalo News obtained from local school districts. Four waivers involved teachers; the rest were for administrators.

A common practice