Back in September I put a piece up at This Week in Ed
about teacher pension reform: In other words McGee and Winters are proposing sacrificing educators» retirement security to achieve a system that is in some respects more fair and — perhaps — educationally more efficient.
In my post, I narrowed in on some flaws in how the report talked
about teacher pension plans.
Moreover, the report's descriptions
about teacher pension plans are wildly out of touch with reality and attempt to paper over real problems in the public sector.
In our writings
about teacher pensions over the last few years, we've identified a lot of bananas.
For anyone who has questions
about teacher pensions or is interested in learning more about pensions in your state, sign up for our monthly newsletter, watch our 3 - minute animated «explainer» video below, or reach out to us directly at teacherpensions - at - bellwethereducation - dot - org.
Last month I talked
about teacher pensions on a panel at the annual summit of the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE - Network).
Don — Here's a question
about teacher pensions / retiree health benefits.
While most of the articles on our list were published in 2011, some are oldies that generated new interest this year (including two articles from our archives
about teacher pensions and other benefits).
What would you change
about teacher pensions so that they can better serve teachers?
I wish I had known more
about teacher pensions.
We often write about statistics or theoretical arguments
about teacher pensions.
With all the noise
about teacher pensions it's interesting that Social Security receives so little attention.
Earlier this month I was invited to speak
about teacher pensions at a meeting of the Taxpayers Association of Central Iowa.
Not exact matches
It has received funding from the Ontario
Teachers Pension Plan, which will buy
about US$ 500 million of the equity, and Canadian private equity firm West Face Capital, which will buy US$ 250 million of the new HBC equity.
CMHC controls
about two - thirds of the market while publicly traded Genworth Canada has around 30 %; Canada Guaranty (part - owned by the Ontario
Teachers»
Pension Plan) mops up the remainder.
It has received commitments from the Ontario
Teachers Pension Plan, which will buy
about US$ 500 million of the equity, and Canadian private equity firm West Face Capital, which will buy US$ 250 million of the new HBC equity.
She's a
teacher and with her current contract would get
about $ 90K / year
pension.
And while ISS declined to comment to Listed, Glass Lewis (which is owned by the Ontario
Teachers»
Pension Plan) was more open
about its views.
Private equity firm TPG Capital along with PAG Asia Capital and Ontario
Teachers Pension Plan purchased DTZ from the Australian public, commercial property firm UGL for
about $ 1.1 billion and then merged that with Cassidy Turley, which was acquired for
about $ 557 million.
The average Chicago property tax bill is going up
about 10 percent this year following City Hall and Chicago Public Schools tax hikes to pay for police, fire and
teacher pensions, according to calculations released Tuesday by the Cook County clerk's office.
In a case that could have ramifications for government transparency, New York's top judges may decide whether details
about taxpayer - funded
teacher pensions should remain hidden or be open to the public.
Following the submission today of the NASUWT response to the Department for Education consultation on «Proposed Increases to Contributions for Members of the
Teachers» Pension Scheme», Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers» union in the UK, said: «The Coalition Government should tell the public the truth about why it is seeking to raid the pensions of millions of ordinary public service workers and why it is taxing public sector workers who are acting responsibly by trying to save for their ret
Teachers»
Pension Scheme», Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest
teachers» union in the UK, said: «The Coalition Government should tell the public the truth about why it is seeking to raid the pensions of millions of ordinary public service workers and why it is taxing public sector workers who are acting responsibly by trying to save for their ret
teachers» union in the UK, said: «The Coalition Government should tell the public the truth
about why it is seeking to raid the
pensions of millions of ordinary public service workers and why it is taxing public sector workers who are acting responsibly by trying to save for their retirement.
That's enough to cover
about one - fourth of overall school spending in the two - county region, but experts said it is not sufficient to fully meet rising costs of
teacher pensions and other high expenses.
Thousands of
teachers, lecturers and support staff will be visiting Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday, 26 October) to lobby their MPs
about pension cuts in the education sector.
So the battle is no longer
about teacher pay or
pensions.
Pension costs for
teachers and other professional school staffers are expected to rise about 10 percent in the 2018 - 19 school year for districts on Long Island and statewide after three years of reductions, according to estimates by the New York State Teachers» Retirement
teachers and other professional school staffers are expected to rise
about 10 percent in the 2018 - 19 school year for districts on Long Island and statewide after three years of reductions, according to estimates by the New York State
Teachers» Retirement
Teachers» Retirement System.
The second poll on the 24th June asked specifically
about teachers taking strike action on the 30th June over changes to pblic sector
pensions that «mean
teachers will have to work longer and pay more towards lower
pensions.»
We first look at early - career
teachers» behavior when they become vested in their state's
pension plan, by reviewing state assumptions
about teacher withdrawal rates.
Research does reveal one moment in a
teacher's career when
pension rules can influence her decision: when she is at, or just
about to reach, retirement age.
Vesting periods can vary;
about half of states set the vesting point at five years of service, and most of the rest require 10 years of service before
teachers are eligible to collect a
pension.
When I talk
about pensions, I often cite a statistic
about rising
teacher mobility.
When Rhee's study came out, I used her own calculations on benefit accruals to show that
about half to two - thirds of California's incoming
teachers will fail to break even in their
pension system.
We reviewed
pension plans and projections in all 50 states, looking specifically at state assumptions
about teacher behavior at two inflection points: early career, when they become eligible for minimal
pension benefits, and late career, when they become eligible for full
pension benefits.
Usually when I tell this story I'm talking
about pensions, but rising attrition rates also have implications for the way we think
about teacher preparation, induction, salaries, etc..
A follow - up study by Bob Costrell and Josh McGee reached similar findings:
About two - thirds of all new California
teachers lose out from their
pension system.
And if we had a different
pension system — one that allowed
teachers to build
pension wealth throughout their careers and take it with them whenever they left — then they wouldn't be worried
about losing their big payout by getting fired a few years before retirement.
Weingarten is right to call out state policymakers for their fecklessness
about properly funding
teacher pension plans, part of the cause of the
pension mess today.
In the Spring 2009 issue of Ed Next, Mike Podgursky and Bob Costrell wrote
about the high cost of
teacher pensions.
Teacher pensions are not all - or - nothing, but only
about half of new
teachers will qualify for some
pension.
As we've written
about for
teachers in Illinois and California, the «average»
pension is skewed by many employees who qualify for only a very small
pension.
In a recent Education Next article, «Golden Handcuffs,» we talked
about winners and losers in
teacher pension systems, and
about the huge costs these systems impose on mobile
teachers due to the back - loading of benefits.
The total
pension income is a combination of all of these
pensions, so all should be considered when a
teacher thinks
about their retirement planning.
Video: Robert Costrell talks with Education Next
about the ways that
teacher pension plans punish short - term and mobile
teachers and reward
teachers who spend their entire career teaching in one state.
Podcast: Robert Costrell and Michael Podgursky talk with Education Next
about ways to eliminate the peculiar incentives built into current
teacher pension systems.
The chart below may appear complicated, but it explains a lot
about what's happened over time to
teacher pensions.
The retirement benefits of
teachers, and of other public employees, have received increased scrutiny in recent years over concerns
about the fiscal sustainability of defined - benefit
pension plans and the peculiar incentives they create.
That argument may sound reasonable, but it's just as plausible that
teachers don't know
about or fully appreciate the thousands of dollars states and districts spend on their
pensions each year.
Some districts do negotiate over who pays the contribution — the district or individual
teachers — but under statewide
pension systems, decisions
about benefit structures and contribution levels are all made by state legislators, state comptrollers or treasurers, or even unelected
pension boards.
Pension debt alone now eats up to
about 10 percent of the average
teacher's compensation.
Robert Costrell and Michael Podgursky talk with Education Next
about ways to eliminate the peculiar incentives built into current
teacher pension systems.