The ongoing crisis in teacher pension funding has led states to consider various reforms in plan design to replace the traditional benefit formulas, based on years of service and final average salary (FAS). One such design is a cash balance (CB) plan, long deployed in the private sector, and increasingly considered, but rarely yet adopted, for…

A growing educator shortage is having significant impacts in schools and communities throughout the United States. In response to this growing concern, the Kansas Teacher Retention Initiative was launched in the summer of 2021, with a focus on measuring, understanding, interpreting, and disseminating data-driven insights regarding the driving…

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…

On February 24, 2017, all of the authors of the state-of-the-state manuscripts published in the "Journal of Education Finance" met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on recent legislative actions in 38 states. A majority of those papers were revised to reflect a final report on legislative actions…

In many parts of the United States, there is a growing shortage of music teachers to take the place of the retiring teachers. This is most evident in rural areas. If music teachers are not available to fill openings, music positions are sometimes combined, spreading music teachers too thin and requiring them to possess multiple music…

This report presents the Kansas edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals examine…

This report contains data on three facets of special education attrition in Kansas. First, the report documents attrition information for special education personnel who were employed during the 2000-2001 school year (SY) but who did not return to a special education position in Kansas for the 2001-02 SY. Second, attrition rates for special…

Collective bargaining agreements between the boards of trustees and faculty associations of 10 selected community colleges in Kansas are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1987. Contracts for the following colleges are included: Butler County Community College, Dodge City Community College, Fort Scott Community College, Garden City…

Collective bargaining agreements between the boards of trustees and faculty associations of eight selected community colleges in Kansas are presented, representing contracts in effect between 1989 and 1993. Contracts for the following colleges are provided: (1) Butler County Community College in El Dorado (1990-91); (2) Cowley County Community…

The purpose of the study was to provide insight into the inability to retain qualified special education teachers. Why do special educators say they want to leave? What conditions would encourage them to stay? Nearly half of the teachers reported they planned to leave the field in the next 5 years. They cited three areas of concern: administrative…