Like most other state and local government employees, teachers participate primarily in defined benefit pension plans whose benefits are based on final average salaries and length of service. Such pensions have been replaced in many private sector firms by defined contribution pensions. A number of questions have arisen about the feasibility and…

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to address today's claimants and focus on the here-and-now at the expense of long-term concerns and more dispersed constituencies. In the private sector, rules and regulations seek to tame corner-cutting and short-sighted behavior. In the public sector, the primary safeguard is the…

Policy discussions about teacher quality and teacher "shortages" often focus on recruitment and retention of young teachers. However, attention has begun to focus on the incentive effects of teacher retirement benefit systems, particularly given their rising costs and the large unfunded liabilities. In this paper we analyze accrual of…

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This paper presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Several states have legal protections that effectively prevent a state…

The following topics of immediate concern to the American Federation of Teachers are discussed in terms of their current status and future plans for action: (1) federal aid to education; (2) bilingual education; (3) pensions, benefits, and retirement; (4) effective lobbying; (5) civil rights; (6) collective bargaining and union membership; (7)…

The impact of alternative institutional policies on faculty mix, salary expense, and turnover is assessed. Guidelines are offered to aid health science school administrators to maintain faculty vitality through a period of retrenchment and new federal retirement law. A "typical" hypothetical school of medicine is simulated using a…

This paper describes a spreadsheet-based faculty flow model developed and implemented at the University of Calgary (Canada) to analyze faculty retirement, turnover, and salary issues. The study examined whether, given expected faculty turnover, the current salary increment system was sustainable in a stable or declining funding environment, and…