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SLGE Releases Survey Findings on Public School Employees’ Views on Job and Benefits

On June 4, 2020, the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) released its report, Survey Findings: K-12 Public School Employee Views on Job and Benefits.  Since schools are facing extraordinary challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey examines K-12 public school employees’ views on their job and benefit satisfaction, knowledge of mutual funds and annuities, sources of financial information, debt, and school diversity. 

  • Overall, K-12 public school employees are satisfied with their employer with 83% of respondents being satisfied with the ability to serve their community, 77% with their job security, and 75% with the personal satisfaction they receive from their job.
  • 75% of employees would be most likely to leave their job if significant cuts were made to their salary, 60% if cuts were made to their defined benefit (DB) pension plan, and 58% if cuts were made to their health insurance.
  • Employees vary in how frequently they review their defined contribution (DC) retirement account results with 21% being very comfortable investing and managing their DC accounts, and 51% being somewhat comfortable doing so.
  • About 33% of those with a DC plan are given the option by their employer to invest in annuities and in mutual funds. Of those given the option, 75% invest in annuities and 82% invest in mutual funds.
  • Employees report varying levels of confidence regarding making retirement plan decisions on their own with 40% indicating that they consult with a non-financial professional (i.e., family member or friend) and 34% consult with a financial professional associated with their employer.
  • Employees also indicate that it is important for schools to have a racially/ethnically diverse faculty and staff, regardless of the composition of the student population.

The report is based on the results of a national online survey of 400 state and local government K-12 public school employees that was conducted in March of 2020 by SLGE and Greenwald & Associates. 

The report is available here.