Over the past few years, as cash-strapped states and school districts have faced tough budget decisions, spending on teacher compensation has come under the microscope. The underlying question is whether, when you take everything into account, today's teachers are fairly paid, underpaid, or overpaid. In this forum, two pairs of respected…

In this paper the authors examine how the structures of earnings, Social Security, and pension benefits affect retirement behavior. They use an intertemporal model of labor supply, paying special attention to the institutional features of private pensions and Social Security benefits. (Author/SSH)

The social security commissioner argues that the system's varied protection--against loss of earnings due to death, disability, and even inflation--makes it a better deal than most private plans. (Author/IRT)

Early retirement programs do not necessarily result in the greatest savings. To ensure a successful program, employers must consider all factors that influence an employee's decision to participate. (JOW)

Indiana University's experiences with trying to cancel an increasingly expensive early retirement system illustrates some of the ways in which faculty retirement benefits are subject to attack and some of the potential and weaknesses of the traditional faculty governance mechanisms in trying to shape a response. (MSE)

The impact on employee benefit plans of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act amendments that raised the mandatory retirement age is addressed through a discussion and analysis of legislative history, court decisions, Department of Labor regulations, wage-hour rulings, and opinion letters. (Author/JMD)

Notes the growth of preretirement programs as an employment benefit and describes a variety of programs provided by different types of companies. (SK)

Personnel management must become cost effective, and cost effectiveness must be balanced with employee relations effectiveness. Special attention must be given to compensation programs and older employees, for whom creative and satisfying programs can be developed. (MSE)

Discusses benefits of employee sabbaticals including (1) continuing employee education; (2) avoiding technical obsolescence; (3) reducing job-related stress and burnout; (4) creating a more productive work force; and (5) stemming the tide of early retirement. (JOW)

This study estimates the effects on pension benefits received by women that would result from some of the changes recommended in 1981 by the President's Commission on Pension Policy. The author argues that the private pension system now presents several barriers to the attainment of benefits by women. (SSH)

Identifies common assumptions and fallacies that greatly increase superintendents' risk of job failure. Knowing how to enlist others to assist with a career crisis and designing a "golden parachute" retirement plan can make all the difference to a superintendent planning a career move. (MLH)

Includes "Introduction" (Hanratty, Mitchell); "Health Insurance and Job Mobility" (Monheit and Cooper; Gruber and Madrian); "Effect of Access to Post-Retirement Health Insurance (HI) on Decision to Retire Early" (Karoly, Rogowski); "Employer-Provided HI and Retirement Behavior" (Gustman, Steinmeier);…

This article explains why college faculty benefit by taking large portions of their compensation in fringe benefits, presents data showing trends in the provision of fringe benefits to college and university employees, and suggests that academic supply and demand conditions during the 1990s may lead to resumption of the upward trend in…

A recent survey of the 50 states showed a wide variation in buy-back provisions for emigrating teachers who wish to apply prior service from another state toward their pension plan in the state to which they have moved. A chart shows the number of years of buy-back allowed and the specific requirements for claiming them in each of the states,…

Information on provisions of group life insurance plans and the tendency of colleges and universities to provide this coverage is considered. There has been an increase in the percentage of institutions adopting group life insurance plans over the last decade. Absence of coverage is concentrated among smaller two-year and four-year institutions…