This dissertation focuses on teacher retirement systems. The defined benefit pension plans that cover K-12 public school teachers in most states face two major problems: they may not be financially sustainable as large numbers of teachers retire in the coming years, and they may not be serving to recruit and retain a high-quality teaching force. I propose that in order for pensions to serve as a policy lever to attract and retain high-quality teachers, three conditions must be met. First, teachers must understand their retirement plans and the incentives imbedded therein. Second, they must value these incentives. Finally, the incentives must be aligned with the desired pattern(s) of retirement behavior. This dissertation investigates the extent to which each of these conditions is being met using data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher Follow-Up Survey as well as original data collected via a survey and embedded focus groups. It also outlines how pensions could be reformed to be better aligned with desired retirement behavior to recruit and retain high-quality teachers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-10042011-152701 |
| Date | 08 December 2011 |
| Creators | Ettema, Elizabeth Anne |
| Contributors | Mimi Engel, Michael Podgursky, James W. Guthrie, William Doyle |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-10042011-152701/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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