$51,072
The average annual annuity received by a retired California teacher in 2010, according to the California State Teachers Retirement System’s annual summary. This is more than the average income for teachers in all but 21 states, based on analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by Dropout Nation. (The CalSTRS document comes courtesy of Mike Antonucci.)
15,493
The number of teachers and other Golden State school workers retiring in 2010, that is a 21 percent increase over the number of new retirees in 2009 and a 59 percent increase over the number of new retirees eight years ago.
$38,437.63
The average annual annuity of a New Jersey teacher in 2009, according to analysis of the New Jersey Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund annual report by Dropout Nation. That is an 11 percent increase over the average income received in 2008 — and a 2 percent decline in median household income during the same period.
62
Average age of a CalSTRS retiree in 2010.* On average, they retired with just 27 years of time on the job (although half of retirees in 2010 worked 25 years or longer).
$50.6 million
Contributions made by teachers and other school employees to the state’s healthcare benefits program in 2009-2010.
$1.8 billion
Contributions to the plan made by taxpayers through school districts in 2009-2010.
$36 billion
The unfunded retired teacher healthcare liability for New Jersey in 2009. One of the nation’s largest unfunded retire teacher healthcare deficits.
$60 billion
The total pension deficit for California and New Jersey in 2009. For Golden State taxpayers, it’s $40.5 billion, while Garden State residents bear $19.7 billion.
124,983
Number of eighth-graders who originally made up California’s and New Jersey’s Class of 2009 who dropped out and fell into prison and poverty.
This is why traditional teacher compensation — expensive to taxpayers, ineffective in recruiting and keeping high-quality teachers, and a failure in improving student achievement — must be overhauled.
* Note: An earlier version incorrectly mentioned that the average age of a CalSTRS retiree was 45.