Over 30 years of retirement, Copeland would collect as much as $2.66 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Sangamon Sun.
The projection assumes Copeland received $55,846 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Copeland will have already received $172,614 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.