Resources

  • This paper argues that transition costs from moving from defined benefit pension systems to defined contribution plans are minor and should not stand in the way to pension reform.
  • While politics have frequently hampered the efforts to reform state pensions systems, several states have successfully passed significant reform to their pension systems.
  • Half of all Americans who teach in public schools won’t qualify for even a minimal pension benefit, and less than one in five will remain long enough to earn a normal retirement benefit. As a result, while the system works for a few, it creates an enormous problem affecting many—especially given the sheer size of the teaching workforce.
  • Alexander Volokh argues that the California Rule protecting government-worker pensions is legally permissible, but should be rejected nonetheless as a matter of policy.
  • If districts adopted retirement systems where benefits accrued smoothly year after year and increased the proportion of teacher compensation that is paid directly as salary, they could offer a more attractive compensation package to most teachers without the need for higher taxes or reduced services.