Retirement & Pensions
Education news, analysis, and opinion about school staff retirement and the related financial obligations and issues for districts and states
Teaching Profession
Kentucky Districts Close After Angry Teachers Call In Sick With 'Pension Flu'
More than 20 districts were closed on Friday due to teacher outcry over the passage of a pension overhaul bill, which changes how new teachers will retire.
Teaching Profession
After W.Va. Strike, Teachers in Kentucky and Arizona Fight for Pension, Higher Pay
Teachers in Kentucky are protesting a bill that would cut their pension benefits, while Arizona teachers are fighting for higher pay and smaller class sizes.
Teaching Profession
One More Way High-Poverty Schools Get Less: Teacher Pensions
Teachers who work at high-poverty schools and with mostly students of color are paid less than their peers at affluent schools with mostly white students—but the disparity is worse than people think, a new report says.
Education
Opinion
Gold-Plated Teachers' Pensions
If teachers have it so good, then why don't critics become teachers?
Teaching Profession
Opinion
The War on Teachers and the End of Public Education
We have genuinely reached a tipping point, one where we're struggling to get young people to go into teaching as professional career (as opposed to two-year adventure before law school). Our state legislators are openly declaring that teaching is now a short-term technical job, not a career, and thus public school educators don't really need a stable state pension. That's not only a war on individual teachers, but a war on teaching itself.
Education
Opinion
Teacher Pensions Need Overhaul
Allowing all new teachers to choose the type of pension plan they want is an effective way of filling high demand fields.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Research Report: Teachers
Many new teachers will contribute a portion of their pay to pension plans that will be worth less upon retirement than what the teachers contributed while they were in the classroom, according to a new report by the Washington-based think tank, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Pa. School District Not Liable for Charter-Teacher Pensions
In a precedent-setting ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said a school district is not liable for paying pension contributions that a closed charter school failed to make to a state pension fund for teachers.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Maybe Pensions Aren't the Problem; Maybe We Are
It took awhile--after a year like last year, everyone seems to have been entitled to take some time off to recharge--but here's the second installment of my thoughts on government pension problems.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Pennsylvania's Government Pension Crisis (Part One)
We have a full-blown pension crisis on our hands in Pennsylvania, but it's obvious what's happening here because we've seen this movie before: engineer a failure in a public system (or sit idly by while it happens), then blame the system for its failure. If we know the play maybe we can come up with a decent way to defend it.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Mich. Senate Seeks to Stop Pensions for New Teachers
A Michigan Senate committee narrowly voted last week to close the pension system to new teachers and other school employees and to instead offer them only a 401(k)-style retirement plan, despite objections from Gov. Rick Snyder.
Teaching Profession
Michigan Effort to Reform Teacher-Pension System Fails
The bill faced opposition from the state's governor.
Teaching Profession
Three States Contend With Teacher-Pension System Woes
This week, politicians in Maryland, Michigan, and Kentucky pondered their state's massive unfunded pension liabilities.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teacher Says: Change the World!
We are on the very edge of destroying what makes America truly great. America is a place of free thinking, brainstorming, and giving every child the chance to receive a quality education free of charge.
