Why aren't teacher salaries rising? This puzzle can be explained by three trends eating into teachers' take-home pay: rising health care costs, declining student/teacher ratios, and rising retirement costs. Retirement costs are the most hidden of these three factors. The result is that most teachers are getting the worst of both worlds. Teachers…

Like most other state and local government employees, teachers participate primarily in defined benefit pension plans whose benefits are largely 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…

In response to a journalist inquiry regarding research on funding of Ohio's teacher retirement system and its effect on school district finances, this analysis by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute points to serious questions and profound concerns about the health of Ohio's teacher pension system, and that similar time bombs may be ticking in other…

This comparative analysis of the salaries of Japanese and American public school teachers addresses these principal questions: (1) How does the level of public school teachers' salaries in Japan (measured in terms of teachers' purchasing power) compare with that in the United States? (2) How does the teachers' salary structure in Japan compare…

The efficiency and moral of members of college faculties are dependent in a large measure on an assurance of economic security. In order, that they may render a high standard of service in teaching youth and in discovering knowledge for the benefit of society, protection for them and their families against the risks and anxieties of the future is…

The importance of appropriate compensation and employment security for college faculty is discussed, in light of the declining purchasing power and wages for teachers and the erosion of benefits and pension prospects. From 1970 to 1985, the national average faculty salary, adjusted for inflation, fell 15.1%. Regardless of personal commitments and…

This paper describes a method of projecting inflation-adjusted (real) retirement benefit replacement ratios for defined contribution retirement plans such as TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association--College Retirement Equities Fund). The illustrated ratios are comparable to the ratios in defined benefit plans that result…

The three reports in this publication examine the relationship between educators' benefits and state, local, and national economic conditions and policies. The reports had two goals: to encourage educators to consider economic factors in negotiating benefits and compensation, and to demonstrate that employee retirement and health benefits are a…

A report of the Texas Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Compensation is presented, and recommendations of the Texas Coordinating Board, based on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, are offered. Additionally, a companion document dated January 30, 1981, includes the text of presentations at an October hearing, an analysis of retirement and group insurance…