There is no question that for New York City teachers who can last in the increasingly hostile classroom, the
re lies a pot of gold by receiving a nice pension when they leave teaching. Add that to the TDA and Social Security and teachers are set when they retire. This is the Holy Grail that long-term teachers strive for. These teachers gave up competitive salaries with other professions, suffer from constant disrespect from politicians, media, and the students, knowing that if they can just survive these indignities, it will be well worth it. This has been true as New York State has slowly reduced teacher pensions starting from Tier I to Tier VI.
During the time period when all teachers were covered under Tier 1 to Tier IV, pension plans only
40% of the teachers actually lasted till vesting (5-10years) and 33% made it to full retirement age (55 or 62). That means that the majority of teachers did not work long enough to get even a minimal pension. However, for those teachers who managed to make it long enough to be vested, they had a good chance to make it to full retirement age.
Fast forward twenty years from now and the vast majority of teachers will be
Tier VI and be subject to the vastly reduced benefits that go with it. For example, they have a 10 year vesting requirement and 15 years to receive retiree health benefits. Moreover, the full retirement age is 63 compared to the 55-62 for the other Tiers (I to IV). Finally, the pension amount is reduced, both by age and by the percentage used to calculate the pension (1.75%) compared to Tier IV (2.0%).
See why the City wants to remove veteran Tier IV teachers.
While I cannot accurately predict how many Tier VI teachers will be vested and reach full retirement age. I can venture an educated guess by looking at teacher retention statistics in other major urban areas.
City Teachers Making It To Retirement Age
New York City.....................................33%
Las Vegas..........................................20%
Philadelphia........................................7%
Los Angeles........................................6%
Honolulu.............................................5%
Washington D.C. .................................4%
Chicago..............................................4%
Houston..............................................3%
Miami.................................................1%
Tampa................................................1%
If you add the increased difficulty in achieving tenure, the use of the Charlotte Danielson rubric, the rise of the Leadership Academy Principal, the punitive teacher evaluation system, and the lack of collaboration, Tier VI teachers who reach full retirement age will probably be in the single digits and not the 33%
cited in the report.
The bottom line is being a New York City teacher under Tier VI one shouldn't expect to last long enough to be vested and reach their full retirement age. Start thinking of opening an IRA and when you leave the DOE and if your not vested, take the money you contributed to the pension plan should be added to the IRA since their is no teacher pension awaiting you.