Malverne Superintendent Tops Highest Pensions List

The number of retired public school superintendents in New York State with $100,000-plus government pensions jumped 45 percent in the past year in New York State, Newsday reports, and one of the top 10 recipients is none other than Malverne schools Superintendent James Hunderfund.

Dr. Hunderfund, who is retired from the Commack School District but currently works as Malverne's top adminstrator, has a maximum annual pension of $316,497, according to an article published in Newsday on Jan. 28.

The report used information obtained from the New York State Teacher Retirement System through the Freedom of Information Law to determine that 63 percent of retired school administrators earning six-figure pensions come from Long Island.

During his State of the State address earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that by next year, pension costs for schools, state, and local governments will have increased more than 100 percent since 2009. An analysis by Newsday showed that pension contributions for employees of the Malverne school are expected to go up by 220 percent from 2010 to 2013, 90.5 percent for teachers alone. West Hempstead's are projected to rise by 148 percent for employees (84.3 percent for teachers) during this same time period, according to the study.

Cuomo is calling for reforms to be made to the state's pension system including the creation of a Tier VI retirement plan. 

"I understand the politics and...the political opposition," Cuomo said during the Jan. 4 speech. "When we are talking about pension reform for union employees, we're talking about union employees who don't even exist at this point in time because current employees are covered by current pension system. No one ever said a pension system was a legacy or inheritance."

Cuomo expressed the need for more mandate relief too.

"We need a government that performs better and costs less," he said, pointing out that although New York spends the most on education, it's ranked 38th for its graduation rates.

"A government that works for the people must make a long-term commitment to fiscal discipline," he stated. "Our state is better able to compete when we keep taxes down."

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