As we head into the first few weeks of fall, Rhode Islanders aren’t the only ones with pension reform on the brain. At a recent session during the Policy Innovators in Education Network conference, stakeholders from the business and education communities talked about why the unsustainable pension costs across the country are something everyone in education should care about.
The unfunded liability for Rhode Island’s state pension fund is around $7 billion, or roughly $7,000 per resident. Because public school teachers are included in the state funded pension system, this liability directly affects public education in our state. The unfunded liability for public school teachers alone is $4.1 billion, representing a large portion of our education spending in the state. It is estimated by the RI Department of Education that teacher pension costs will increase 60% between FY 2012 and FY 2013. This fiscal year, roughly $204.1 million from education funds will be spent on pension costs – next year that number rises to $327.2 million....
