Join the Pension Discussion!

Pension discussions are all the rage these days. Don’t believe me? Just check out the Post-Dispatch.

A few days ago, an op-ed by a retired teacher made some inaccurate claims about Missouri’s teacher pension system. Today, the Post-Dispatch graciously ran a letter by yours truly in which I rebut them.  Primarily, I discuss the pension system’s underfunding, the potential for retirees to lose some of their income, and who would benefit from changing the retirement plan.

Additionally, David Nicklaus, business columnist for the Post-Dispatch, has an article in which he highlights my forthcoming paper in the Journal of Education Finance. Nicklaus writes:

Teachers love their pensions. A generous monthly check at the end of one’s career helps make the important, and sometimes underappreciated, profession worthwhile.

I wonder if teachers in Missouri’s lower-paying rural districts realize, though, that their pension contributions help subsidize the retirements of their better-paid counterparts in districts like Rockwood and Clayton.

It is great to see all of this attention going to an important topic that affects so many hard working Missourians.