Indiana’s troubled teachers union said Monday it will pay all the long-term disability benefits it owes to 650 school employees across the state, even if it means cutting its payroll, raising dues on its members or selling its Downtown office building.

The announcement came after the union had once made such a guarantee but then reversed itself.

Nate Schnellenberger, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, and Dennis Van Roekel, head of the union’s parent, the National Education Association, said the two organizations will share the financial burden of paying the estimated $45 million to $65 million in benefits over the next 15 to 20 years.

“These 650 people have every right to be angry about this predicament and scared about their benefits,” Van Roekel said. “Our message to them is simple: Your association will not abandon you. Your benefits will be paid.”

While the news was welcome, Shirley O’Neil said she wasn’t ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

O’Neil taught for more than 33 years in Indianapolis schools before she began suffering from meningitis and breast cancer, which led her to begin collecting $2,000 per month in long-term disability in 2004.

“What they’re sayingcouldbe true, but I don’t know how. If you say something, you better have the specifics as to how,” said O’Neil, 61. “This is a lot of money, and the fact they didn’t give an answer (about how the union would meet its obligations) concerns me. I question it.”

Van Roekel and Schnellenberger said that how the union would find the money it needs remained up in the air.

Among its options: The union might raise the $449 in annual dues now paid by union members. The union represents about 50,000 teachers and others.

Schnellenberger also would not rule out layoffs or selling ISTA’s nine-story office building at 125 W. Market St., which was valued at more than $12 million in 2007, the most recent appraisal available.

ISTA’s Insurance Trust is under investigation by the FBI and the securities division of the secretary of state’s office for its handling of high-risk investments that have led to a projected $47 million deficit, sources close to the matter have told The Indianapolis Star. Those troubles led the NEA to take over the union last month.

The union’s Representative Assembly will meet June 20 to consider its options.

Efforts by the union to identify a new provider to assume ISTA’s long-term disability program have been unsuccessful. The 90 school districts across the state that used the plan, including a dozen in the metro area, will have until Aug. 1 to locate a new provider.