In this brief, we examine an important but obscure form of state spending on K-12 education-state subsidies of school district pension costs. In 2018, this exceeded $19 billion across 23 states. To put that amount into perspective, 2018 federal spending on Title I programs was $15.8 billion. This revenue stream is often ignored in analyses 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…

Policymakers are beginning to take note of the fiscal problems in teacher retirement systems. States have recently taken action by raising retirement ages, lowering benefit payments, and reducing cost-of-living adjustments. These are small steps toward shoring up the system to help ensure that it remains sustainable in the future. But the problems…

A questionnaire survey of 331 Pennsylvania public school teachers gathered data on their attitudes toward Early Retirement Incentive Plans (ERIPs) and on their demographic and job characteristics. The results show teachers strongly support the ERIP concept, chiefly because of their desires to pursue second careers or leisure pursuits. (RW)

This paper presents the Pennsylvania 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…

The retirement behavior of Pennsylvania public school teachers in 1997-98 and 1998-99, a period when state early retirement incentives were temporarily increased, is modeled using a choice framework that emphasizes both pecuniary and nonpecuniary factors of the retirement decision under a defined benefit retirement plan. We find each to have large…

This handbook, intended for use by teachers, administrators, and school board members in Pennsylvania, discusses constitutional, statutory, and case law related to the rights and obligations of teachers. Divided into fifteen chapters (with appendix and selected bibliography), the first four deal with education as a governmental function, the…

The imminent problem of a potential national shortage of special education faculty, as current faculty reach retirement age, was investigated through determining the retirement plans of 24 faculty, aged 55 or older, in special education departments at Pennsylvania institutions of higher education. A national registry of doctoral level special…

Collective bargaining agreements between the boards of trustees and faculty associations of nine selected community colleges in Pennsylvania are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1987. Contracts for the following colleges are presented: Community College of Allegheny County; Community College of Philadelphia; Delaware County Community…

The survey committee of the United States Bureau of Education brings to Columbia, South Carolina's attention those practices which are generally held by other communities, for the present, at least, to be the best. In its effort to get at the facts it has received the unhesitating cooperation of the school commissioners, the superintendent, and…