Currently, higher education is being roiled by class-action lawsuits filed against high-profile institutions, including MIT, Yale and New York University, over management of their retirement plans. As the lawyers are deployed and the billable hours accrue, it is timely to examine how those who have responsibility for retirement plan…

Since 1980, Michigan retirees have been afforded health care benefits for which they were required to pay 10 percent of the premium upon retirement--the remainder was paid for by the state. Recently, the Michigan Legislature reduced the financial obligation of the State for retiree health care benefits, placing it on the individual member. In…

Just 18 minutes before the midnight signing deadline on May 15, 2010, Minnesota state legislators breathed a sigh of relief. Their bipartisan pension reform legislation, which passed both chambers by large margins and aimed to help shore up a potentially failing pension system, had just escaped a veto threat. Under pressure from his Republican…

This report, submitted in compliance with 105 ILCS 5/1A-4E, provides a discussion of the overall condition of education in Illinois. Information is included concerning student and teacher demographics; data on teacher and administrator licensure; federal, state, and local resources; and other data on Illinois education. The 2021 Condition of…

This past year has been unlike any in recent history. In March, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois to shift suddenly to remote learning for all students. This adjustment exposed the digital divide as a stark reality. One bright spot in the year occurred in May, when the Illinois' plan for career and technical education (CTE) received…

Angry educators are playing an important role in the anti-mandatory retirement movement currently sweeping some trades, crafts, and professions. They have skipped the rhetoric and gone directly to the courts, with backing and sympathy from the American Civil Liberties Union. Gives the status of the suits. (Author/JF)

Reviews the only Supreme Court decision (Massachusetts Board of Retirement vs Murgia) on mandatory retirement, two conflicting federal appellate decisions on mandatory retirement for teachers, and Kentucky's statutory scheme in light of these cases. Available from Kentucky Law Journal, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506; sc $3.50.…

Economic underpinnings of retirement incentives and case law leading to the Older Workers Benefits Protection Act (1986) are reviewed; implications for early retirement incentives for college faculty are considered. It is concluded that congressional intent is not to foreclose such incentives and that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act…

A second court decision supporting the payment of equal retirement pensions to men and women through the Teachers Insurance Annuities Association and College Retirement Equities Fund for retirees, effective after May 1, 1980, is discussed. This federal appeals court decision allows limited retroactivity. (MSE)

Age and sex discrimination are addressed in two newsletter articles. In "Age Discrimination in Faculty Employment," Stuart H. Bompey reviews employment litigation issues and their impact on the collective bargaining process. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) stipulates that individuals may be mandatorily retired at age 70;…

In the Manhart case, the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for women to be required to make higher payments into a retirement fund than do men to receive the same benefits. A district judge ruled elsewhere that a plan calling for equal payments but reduced monthly benefits for women is constitutional. (IRT)

The opinion of a three-judge panel in a court case involving the validity of gender-based mortality tables and the right of women to receive equal pensions from the Teachers Insurance Annuities Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund is presented, including references to the earlier, related Norris case. (MSE)

Proposed alternatives to the current tenure system are administratively, legally, and ethically unsatisfactory. If uncapping the retirement of faculty presents significant problems, which is not yet clear, the academic community would be better advised to explore voluntary early retirement programs and policies. (Author/MSE)

This paper traces the development of two 1978 acts--the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Amendment--and identifies some adverse effects that each can be expected to have on the work force in school districts. Besides providing new protection to two classes of workers (the pregnant and the 45-and-over), the…

There is a strong movement toward legal abolition of fixed-age retirement in Canada. Several factors justify the existing practice, but these arguments are unlikely to prevail, and institutions should consider administrative measures such as facilitation of early retirement, modified benefit plans, and more systematic faculty assessment throughout…