Pexels.com
Pexels.com
The Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System was ranked dead last in a new study by the nonprofit Bellwether Education Partners that examined how well teacher pension plans are serving both teachers and taxpayers.
In an analysis that examined teacher retirement systems in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Illinois finished 51st with an overall score of 34.9%, with 100% being the highest possible score. Bellwether compared the state systems in terms of how well they served constituent groups, such as short-term teachers, long-term teachers and taxpayers.
The current pace of reforms – including raising the retirement age, increasing contribution rates, offering defined-contribution options and reducing the benefits for new teachers – have yet to make any fundamental changes to how teacher pension systems are structured, according to Bellwether.
The Illinois system consists of a defined-benefit retirement plan with no alternatives and a low level of investment returns. The system’s overall funding level is 40.5%, the study states.
Bellwether considers teachers’ retirement security an important issue for the nation, since U.S. public school teachers now number 3.2 million, with millions of other teachers now in retirement.
---
Grading Teacher Retirement Systems Across the U.S.
| Rank | State | Overall Score | Grade |
| 1 | South Dakota | 88.4% | B |
| 2 | Tennessee | 82.5% | B |
| 3 | Washington | 81.9% | B |
| 4 | Utah | 77.6% | C |
| 5 | New York | 77.2% | C |
| 6 | Oregon | 76.3% | C |
| 7 (tie) | Michigan | 76.1% | C |
| 7 (tie) | Idaho | 76.1% | C |
| 9 | Nebraska | 74.5% | C |
| 10 | Arkansas | 74.4% | C |
| 11 | Delaware | 72.0% | C |
| 12 | Arizona | 71.4% | C |
| 13 | North Carolina | 70.5% | C |
| 14 | South Carolina | 69.1% | D |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 68.9% | D |
| 16 | Virginia | 68.5% | D |
| 17 | Minnesota | 68.2% | D |
| 18 (tie) | Iowa | 67.4% | D |
| 18 (tie) | Wisconsin | 67.4% | D |
| 20 | Montana | 67.2% | D |
| 21 | Hawaii | 66.7% | D |
| 22 | Mississippi | 66.2% | D |
| 23 | Maryland | 65.7% | D |
| 24 | West Virginia | 64.8% | D |
| 25 | Florida | 64.6% | D |
| 26 | Vermont | 64.0% | D |
| 27 | Alabama | 63.3% | D |
| 28 | North Dakota | 62.0% | D |
| 29 | New Hampshire | 61.8% | D |
| 30 | Kansas | 61.0% | D |
| 31 | Wyoming | 60.3% | D |
| 32 | Indiana | 58.6% | F |
| 33 | Georgia | 58.2% | F |
| 34 | Maine | 57.6% | F |
| 35 | Missouri | 57.5% | F |
| 36 | Ohio | 57.0% | F |
| 37 | New Mexico | 56.1% | F |
| 38 | District of Columbia | 55.1% | F |
| 39 | Nevada | 54.2% | F |
| 40 | Texas | 54.3% | F |
| 41 | Louisiana | 48.6% | F |
| 42 | Rhode Island | 48.3% | F |
| 43 | Alaska | 48.2% | F |
| 44 | Colorado | 47.8% | F |
| 45 | California | 46.5% | F |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 46.2% | F |
| 47 | Pennsylvania | 43.3% | F |
| 48 | Connecticut | 42.1% | F |
| 49 | Kentucky | 39.7% | F |
| 50 | New Jersey | 36.2% | F |
| 51 | Illinois | 34.9% | F |
Alerts Sign-up