In FY 2010, the state of New Jersey, facing a $2.2 billion budget shortfall, adopted a series of measures to close the gap. The budget delayed $940 million worth of pension fund contributions for FY 2010. It also allowed towns and localities to defer their pension payments.

New Jersey was not alone. For years, state legislatures closed budget gaps by delaying payments to the state pensioContinue Reading »

A $64.5 billion shortfall needs full-scale reform. An investment banker in California says revenue from Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax initiative must go toward teachers’ pensions, as the state’s retirement system is in big trouble. But as Education Sector’s Sarah Rosenberg pointed out last month, there’s a better way out. (Intercepts)

Beyond the teacher licensure exam. Illinois teacherContinue Reading »

Writing in Forbes, Josh Barro highlights why public sector pension reform is such an important issue — in even the deepest blue of states like California and Illinois. In Illinois, as the chart below shows, pension expenditures have risen from 6 percent of general fund spending in 2008 to a proposed 15 percent of spending in fiscal year 2013.

Illinois did tackle pension refContinue Reading »

Last night, by overwhelming margins, the Rhode Island legislature passed what may be the nation’s most comprehensive state public employee pension reform ever (see our analysis for an education perspective on the bill). While pension battles have been front-page news in states such as Wisconsin, this reform didn’t emerge from an anti-union crusade. Instead, as Ted Nesi, the WPRI repContinue Reading »

Michael Kirst on Community College Policies For Repeating Courses: “A proposal would cut off access to California community college students who linger too long. A state legislative report recommended giving first-time students a higher priority for class registration, capping the number of taxpayer-subsidized units that students can take and limiting the number of times students can reContinue Reading »