According to a report by the actuary of the fund that bankrolls teacher retirements in New Jersey, the state is going to come up seriously short on the funds needed to cover the long-term retirement benefits cost for the state's teachers. Such a significant shortfall, however, did not seem to bother a New Jersey state Senate committee, which endorsed a plan on Monday that would lock in post-retirement benefits for many current teachers. As a result, no matter how bad the budget news gets, no changes can be made to teachers' medical benefits package.

As Henry Matwiejewicz, legislative liaison for the state Division of Pensions and Benefits put it, "This basically would handcuff the state from implementing any cost control measures." This year the Garden State spent $584 million on health benefits for its 54,000 retired teachers, $156 million more than it spent last year and more than double what it spent in 2000. Edithe Fulton, president of the New Jersey Education Association, claimed the measure is needed to retain teachers "at a time when every state is facing a serious teacher shortage."

The chairman of the Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund trustees board, Harry Baldwin, saw things a little differently. "I'll be gone in 30 years," reflected Baldwin, "but there will someone hung from that tree."