Teachers Pension Plans

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33 teachers plans · Avg funded ratio: 76.3%

What the Data Says About Teachers Pension Plans

The Public Plans Database (PPD), maintained by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, tracks 33 Teachers pension plans across the United States, covering a broad range of state and local retirement systems that share the teachers occupational category. These plans report a weighted average funded ratio of 76.3%, based on each plan's most recent CAFR and actuarial valuation. Individual plan health varies widely within this category, from plans graded A for strong funding discipline to plans graded F that face severe structural shortfalls requiring legislative intervention.

The 76.3% category average for Teachers plans falls near the national public-pension average of 75.5%, indicating moderate funding gaps that vary significantly by state and sponsoring entity. Each plan's trajectory depends on contribution adequacy (whether employers pay the full Annual Required Contribution), investment returns relative to the assumed rate, and demographic trends such as the ratio of active contributors to retirees drawing benefits.

Public pension plans, including these teachers systems, differ from private-sector pensions governed by ERISA and backstopped by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Public plans rely on the full faith and credit of the sponsoring state or local government, meaning funding shortfalls are resolved through state and local budget decisions rather than federal insurance. This information summarizes official Public Plans Database disclosures and is provided for research and educational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or retirement-planning advice; active and retired members with specific benefit questions should consult their plan administrator.

Plan Funded Ratio Grade
New York City Educational 108.9% B
Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System 98.6% B
New York State Teachers Retirement System 98.6% B
St. Paul Teachers' Retirement Fund Association 98.5% B
Vermont Teachers Retirement System 96.6% B
Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System 93.9% B
Kentucky Teachers Retirement System 89.7% B
Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System 88.3% B
Illinois Teachers Retirement System 83.7% B
Missouri Public School and Education Employees Retirement Systems 83.6% B
Arkansas Teachers Retirement System 82.1% B
St. Louis Public School Retirement System 81.3% B
Louisiana Schools 77.5% C
New York City Teachers Retirement System 76.8% C
Alaska Teachers Retirement System 76.8% C
California State Teachers Retirement System 75.9% C
Massachusetts Teachers Retirement Board 75.8% C
Minnesota Teachers Retirement Association 75.2% C
Georgia Teachers Retirement System 74.3% C
Omaha School Employee Retirement System 73.1% C
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board 72.5% C
Kansas City Schools 70.1% C
Knox County Teachers' DB Plan 70.1% C
Teacher Retirement System of Texas 69.5% C
Montana Teachers Retirement System 69.0% C
Ohio School Employees Retirement System 67.7% C
North Dakota Teachers Fund for Retirement 67.2% C
Connecticut Teachers Retirement Board 66.2% C
Alabama Teachers 65.1% C
Ohio State Teachers Retirement System 62.9% C
Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County 60.9% C
Chicago Public School Teachers Pension and Retirement Fund 47.2% D
Louisiana Teachers Retirement System 21.8% F

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Data sourced from official Public Plans Database and actuarial valuations from federal and state pension systems. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPension

Every figure on PlainPension is rendered directly from the Public Plans Database (Boston College Center for Retirement Research), no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every tracked plan of this type, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.