Academic

UNDERFUNDED TEACHER PENSION PLANS: It?s Worse Than You Think. The crux of the problem is the gap?

By Glenn Reynolds

UNDERFUNDED TEACHER PENSION PLANS: It’s Worse Than You Think.

The crux of the problem is the gap between assets and liabilities affecting the fifty-nine pension funds that cover most public school teachers in America. Some of these are general state-employee pension funds, while others cover only teachers. Among the findings of our study of these funds:

* All fifty-nine pension funds studied face shortfalls.
* California, the most populous state, has the largest unfunded teacher pension liability: almost $100 billion.
* The worst-funded plan in our sample is West Virginia?s, which we estimate to be only 31 percent funded.
* Five plans are 75 percent funded or better: teacher-dedicated plans in the District of Columbia, New York State and Washington State and state employee retirement systems in North Carolina and Tennessee that include teachers.

The general picture is not a good one.

Read the whole thing. And weep.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).