Kirsch v. PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES'RET. BD.

**What This Case Was About** Philadelphia teachers Carol Kirsch and other school employees took approved leave from their regular teaching jobs to work full-time for their union. While on this union leave, they earned higher salaries from the union than they would have made as teachers. When they retired, they wanted their pension benefits calculated using their higher union salaries instead of their lower teacher salaries. **What the Court Decided** The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled against the teachers. The court said that pension benefits must be based only on what they would have earned in their school district jobs, not the higher pay they received from the union. The court found that state retirement law clearly requires using the employee's regular school salary for pension calculations, even when they were on approved leave working for the union. **Why This Matters for Workers** This decision affects public school employees who take union positions while maintaining their employment status. Workers should understand that taking higher-paying union roles during approved leave won't boost their pension benefits. Your retirement benefits will be calculated based on your regular job salary, not any additional compensation from other sources like union work, even if that work is officially approved by your employer.