Industry News

In May 2021, TeacherPensions released its study report, Choice and Quality Among Retirement Plans for Educators. The analysis focused on the retirement benefits that are offered to public sector employees working in K-12 schools or public colleges and universities. The report provided a comparison of the retirement benefits offered to public sector education employees for defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution plans by state.

Typically, retirement benefits have varied for K-12 and higher education employees due to their historical backgrounds. Based on the study findings, the authors recommended that states should “provide the same retirement plan options for all public sector employees. K-12 teachers should have the same choices in their retirement plans as their higher education counterparts. Beyond expanding the number of retirement options, states need to ensure that the options they offer are good ones, including short vesting periods, portability, and adequate employer contributions. Adopting these recommendations will give K-12 employees access to more and better retirement options.”

The report is available here.