Resources

  • Better Benefits

    States can take steps to modernize teacher pension systems. Some address the technical aspects or basic structure of plans; others tackle the political obstacles or legal limitations. Some are short term; others are more permanent. They all must be crafted with an eye toward simultaneously creating a sustainable cost structure and improving the quality of the teaching work force.
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  • How Charter Schools Handle Teacher Pensions

    Forty states currently have public charter schools. In twenty-four of those states, teachers in charter schools must participate in the state plan. But in the other sixteen states, charters have the option of participating in the state’s pension plan for teachers, meaning the law offers access to the state retirement system but does not require membership. How often do charters avail themselves of alternative options? And what do they do instead?
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  • The Big Squeeze: Retirement Costs and School-District Budgets

    This report parses the budgets of the Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Philadelphia school districts to estimate just how big an impact their pension and retiree health care obligations will have on their bottom line in coming years.
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  • Pension reform will help cities balance budgets, but will their schools still be able to attract talented teachers?

    If we fail to pair public-sector fiscal reforms with efforts to make teaching a more attractive profession, then in the long run pension reform will end up being a lose-lose proposition. And not just for public-sector employees, but for us all.
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  • Pension System Choice for Public School Teachers

    A large share of teachers are willing to transfer from a traditional DB plan to a hybrid pension plan, and there is some evidence that more effective teachers are more likely to enroll in the hybrid pension plan. The general popularity of a hybrid plan suggests that states could reduce the financial risk associated with pensions without sacrificing the desirability of pension plans to employees.
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