A recent analysis published by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence found that cuts in pension benefits could affect the quality of teachers that school districts hire. 

Alicia Munnell and Rebecca Cannon Fraenkel of Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research wrote the brief, titled “Compensation Matters: The Case of Teachers.”

Here are some key findings:

• Many public sector pension plans have recently cut pension benefits for new hires, thereby reducing compensation.
• One proxy for teacher quality is the average SAT score at a teacher’s undergraduate institution.
• School districts with higher wages and/or higher pensions are able to hire teachers from institutions with higher SAT scores.
• Cutting compensation for new teachers is not costless, as it will likely reduce applicant quality.

You can download a copy of the publication here. 

And check out Civil Beat’s page summarizing Hawaii teachers’ compensation here.

— Alia Wong