Roughly $1 out of every $8 Maryland pays in pension benefits will go to Montgomery County teachers in fiscal 2011, as promised increases in salary and benefits have almost tripled teacher pension costs in the past decade. Ballooning teacher pensions will cost Maryland roughly $924 million in fiscal 2011, up from $348 million in 2002. Maryland’s total pension contributions — including state employees, police, judges, lawmakers and teachers — will add up to $1.4 billion for fiscal 2011, with Montgomery teachers getting roughly $181 million of that.

Montgomery is the largest of 24 school systems in Maryland, with 17,533 teachers who earn an average of roughly $70,000 annually — which is about $10,000 more the average teacher salary in the state.