Hidden Cuts: Growth Rate in Teacher Retirement Costs as a Share of State + Local K-12 Funding, 2002-2020

The numbers represent the percentage increase in the share of state and local K-12 funding consumed by teacher retirement costs between 2002 and 2020. For example, in 2002 teacher retirement plan costs in Georgia were 3.47% of state and local K-12 funding, but by 2020 they were 7.22%—an percentage increase of 108%.

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For a complete discussion of the data in this map, see the report: "Hidden Education Funding Cuts 2023."
While these percentage changes can be measured from 2001, there is incomplete data for that year for certain states. While the national trendline data from 2001 is relatively robust, we are showing these state-specific changes from 2002 to avoid mischaracterizations. Also note that for two states (TN, NJ) their 2002 teacher contributions paid in 2001 were effectively zero, we measured their change from when they started re-started paying contributions.