The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is in the midst of phasing in substantial increases in the contributions made by teachers, school districts, and the state of California. The phase-in period began in 2014-15. In the year prior, 2013-14, the total statutory contribution rate to CalSTRS from all parties was 18.3 percent of salary for each covered teacher. By 2020-21, the end of the phase-in period, the contribution rate will be at least 35.3 percent. This report has two primary objectives. The first is to document what is happening with CalSTRS, and why, from the perspective of individuals interested in schools (i.e., not individuals interested in pension accounting). The "documentation of facts" portion of the report mostly involves taking publicly available information, much of it from CalSTRS itself, and synthesizing the information in a way that improves transparency and highlights key issues. The second objective of the report is to lay out options for a policy response. The authors discuss possibilities within the current CalSTRS structure, which are limited. They also discuss options for deeper, structural changes to teacher retirement benefits based on what other states have done. Many of the changes in other states are recent and in response to similar fiscal challenges in their teacher pension plans. In addition to an in-depth analysis of CalSTRS, the authors include a short review and discussion of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), which covers noncertified staff in public schools and faces similar financial challenges. They also briefly discuss retiree health benefits, which conceptually are often linked with pension benefits, but from a policy perspective are quite different.