“California’s public schools have enjoyed a remarkable restoration of funding since the bone-deep cuts they endured during the recession, but many now face a grave financial threat as they struggle to pay the escalating costs of teachers’ pensions,” reports Jessica Calefati on CalMatters. More than half of the new money will go to pension costs, estimates the state Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst’s Office. Some districts are predicting deficits and many are alre

Arizona teachers won’t return to work until the Legislature passes a budget giving them a 20 percent pay raise, reports NPR’s Colin Dwyer. For nearly a week, educators have exchanged blackboards for poster board, descending on the Capitol in Phoenix with signs and chants expressing their frustration. Among their demands is a 20 percent pay raise for teachers and certified school staff, smaller class sizes, and efforts to bring teacher salaries in Arizona in line with the nati

Pay isn’t the only issue for striking teachers, write Daarel Burnette II and Madeline Will in Education Week. In Kentucky, teachers are worried about a new law changing the underfunded pension system. Teacher retirement systems are shaky across the country, they write. Teachers’ pension debt today tops out nationally at more than $516 billion, and states such as Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan project they won’t have enough money within the next decade to pay teachers wha

The average U.S. teacher made $59,660 in 2016-17, reports the National Education Association in its annual ranking of the states. That’s expected to rise to $60,483 in 2017-18. Teachers earned the most in New York ($81,902), California ($79,128), and Massachusetts ($78,100) and the least in Mississippi ($42,925), Oklahoma ($45,292) and West Virginia  ($45,555). Arizona teachers march at the Capitol in Phoenix. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP Demands for higher teacher pay have spa

Collective bargaining doesn’t improve teacher pay, according to a new study, reports Madeline Will on Ed Week. Thirty-three states passed mandatory collective bargaining laws since the 1960s. Those states do typically have higher teacher salaries and higher per-pupil education spending, but they already did so “well before the emergence of collective bargaining rights or modern teacher unions,” the study found. States offered collective-bargaining rights to weaken public-sect

Pensions are a bad deal for most teachers, conclude Bellwether’s Chad Aldeman and Kelly Robson in an Education Next article. While some teachers do well, most get nothing at all. In the median state, only a minority of teachers vest in their pension plan, they write. In 49 states, a majority of teachers will receive future pension payments worth less than their retirement contributions. Pension plans have unintended and undesirable effects on teacher retention, the authors fi