Blog: Pensions and Human Capital

Teacher pension formulas are based on two variables--salary and experience--that are themselves inequitable.

In defined benefit plans, such as teacher pensions, wealth grows in uneven and sometimes confusing ways. Here's how to know when to retire to maximize your retirement wealth.

Teacher pension systems reflect and often amplify existing gender-based salary gaps.

Recent increases in employer pension contributions have led to a reduction in teacher salary expenditures.

Once you include pension costs, Chicago teachers have higher compensation than their peers across Illinois.

An analysis of Illinois teacher salary data reveals that disparities in pay increase funding inequities most acutely in rural and urban districts.

California's investments in education--pension payments included--should be steered by principles of fairness and equity.

Forty percent of all public K–12 teachers are not covered under Social Security.

Arizona’s teacher pension system is complex, expensive, and fails to produce an adequate retirement benefit for the majority of its teacher members.

Alaska’s 2005 teacher pension system reform legislation provides a unique opportunity to examine what happens when a state closes its teacher pension plan. We’ve collected pre and post reform data to examine teacher workforce impact in the wake of retirement plan changes. While it is important to note that these trends should not be interpreted as causal, we feel there are meaningful takeaways all the same.