Is There A Pension Crisis?

Reclaiming the Promise of Education Conversation Series; Co-Sponsored by the Albert Shanker Institute & The American Federation of Teachers

Lunch will be provided

Is there a pension crisis? Elected officials seeking to diminish the pensions of public sector employees have argued that there is indeed a crisis, and that unsustainable pensions have created a fiscal crisis for states and municipalities. But public pension funds have generally recovered from the effects of the recession, leaving only states that have deliberately underfunded employer contributions over many years, such as New Jersey and Illinois, with problems. Employees who have paid their pension contributions while states and municipalities shirked their share ask why they should be responsible for the failures of elected officials. At the same time, a growing pension crisis has emerged in the private sector, as the loss of defined benefit pension plans over the last four decades has left many Americans without adequate pension income as they enter their retirement years. Our panelists will offer their views on the current state of American pensions, and their prescriptions for building a sustainable pension system that will provide all Americans with a secure and dignified retirement.

Speakers:

Chad Aldeman, associate partner, Bellwether Education Partners

Teresa Ghilarducci, Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Analysis and director, of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, The New School

David Cay Johnston, professor of business, tax and property law, Syracuse University College of Law; former New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter

Dan Pedrotty, manager, research and strategic initiatives department, American Federation of Teachers