Retirement & Pensions
Education news, analysis, and opinion about school staff retirement and the related financial obligations and issues for districts and states
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
In Late-Night Deal, Colo. Lawmakers Pass Pension Reform Measure
In the 11th hour of their legislative session, Colorado lawmakers last week passed a compromise deal to change the state's underfunded pension system for teachers and other public employees.
Teaching Profession
Colorado Lawmakers Pass Pension Reform Bill in Late-Night Deal
The final version of the bill reduces the cost-of-living raises and increases employee contributions to their retirement, among other changes.
Teaching Profession
Costly Pension Plans Are Fanning the Flames of Teacher Unrest
The pressure to rein in costly retirement systems could put more states in the center of policy fights like the one that sparked teacher walkouts in Kentucky.
Law & Courts
Opinion
Kentucky Teacher Responds to Pension Changes: The Teaching Profession Is ‘Under Attack’
Teachers nationwide are rallying together to command the attention of lawmakers around their most basic needs, writes Kentucky special educator Jessica Dueñas.
Education
Kentucky Governor Vetoes Education Budget, Signs Pension Changes
Teachers plan to converge on the state's Capitol this Friday to urge the state's legislature to override the governor's veto, a move that will likely shutter a large portion of the state's schools.
Teaching Profession
Teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky Rally at State Capitols Over Funding, Pensions
The Oklahoma teacher walkout will continue on Tuesday, despite a $6,100 pay raise passed by the legislature.
Teaching Profession
Explainer
Teacher Pay: How Salaries, Pensions, and Benefits Work in Schools
An Education Week primer on teacher salaries, raises, performance pay, pensions, Social Security benefits, and health-care premiums.
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.