A recent Illinois Policy Institute column erroneously suggested that Illinois’ Teachers’ Retirement System made “bad investment decisions” last year. In reality, teachers’ retirement money is in good hands. Over the past 10 years, total assets available for pensions has grown 62 percent to $37.5 billion.

Over 30 years, TRS investment returns are 9.6 percent – higher than our 8.5 percent target. Long-term results matter more than short-term because Illinois has promised pensions to all teachers, including those who won’t retire for 30 years.

The column focused only on the System’s 0.76 percent investment returns for fiscal 2012. Left unsaid is that the lower-than-expected earnings were caused by an unpredictable economy.