Rachael Caise, 19, didn't venture into the field of education to make a fortune or retire with a fat pension.

The education student at Elgin Community College decided to become a teacher, she said, because she loves being around kids.

"I was a sophomore in high school, and my friends and I played at a park all day with this kid, Spencer. I thought to myself, 'This is what I want to do. I want to spend my life with kids,'" she said. "It really impacted me."

But Caise -- along with local school district and teachers' union officials -- say they're worried about the state's new pension reform law.

The law increases the age of retirement for newly-hired teachers to 67 after 10 years of service, and caps the salary at which benefits are calculated at about $107,000. It also discontinues compounding cost-of-living increases and bases benefits on the highest eight consecutive years of salary of the last 10 years worked instead of the current four. More here frm The Courier News.