You don’t get retirement benefits until you retire

Yes, that's the nature of extending credit to a debtor – you don't get your money back until the terms expect payment. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

you can’t spend that money unil you do

One could always borrow to find immediate liquidity using the outstanding debt to be collected as collateral.

Teachers, being the owners of the fund, could also come to an agreement to change its structure. The fund doesn't have to create a debt to active teachers, that's just what its owners decided to do at one point in time.

What grand display are you talking about?

The one where someone went on some weird emotional tirade because of some meaningless words. An educated populace is able to comprehend information in a message without getting wrapped up in their feelings about it.

Places with education systems have better outcomes for their population than places that don’t

According to the OCED/Statscan, Ontario is the most educated province in the most educated nation. In other words, it is considered the most educated place in the world. By which metrics does Ontario display the world's best outcomes for its population?