Topeka ? A group of Johnson County teachers is heading to the Kansas Statehouse to deliver signatures they have gathered in protest of plans to change the state employee retirement system.

Group members say they will deliver some 30 binders with more than 6,400 signatures from school employees from every district in Johnson County to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s office.

Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature are proposing to change the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System from a defined benefit program to a defined contribution program.

The changes are designed to close a projected $8.3 billion gap between pension obligations and what the KPERS system is projected to have in assets over time.

Legislators are debating the plan during the current session. School employees are covered by the pension system.